Scottish Power has announced plans to double the generating capacity at the UK’s largest onshore windfarm. As it announced increased half-year earnings of £1.7 billion, the company intends to “repower” the Whitelee windfarm in East Renfrewshire.
This would involve replacing the existing turbines with a smaller number of turbines which stand considerably taller. Under the plans, the current count of 214 turbines could be reduced to 124, taking its installed capacity from 533MW to over 1GW – making it one of the largest in Europe.
Taller turbines for greater output
The current generation of turbines, which measure up to 140m tall at blade tip, are reaching the end of their lifespan. The new ones could reach well above 240 metres at blade tip height.
Scottish Power’s chief executive Keith Anderson said that repowering the site was “critical” for its future. He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme: “Whitelee is an iconic wind farm, it’s the biggest one in the UK and it’s a huge attraction.”
Context and public access
Asked about the size of the new turbines, Anderson said: “They will be bigger and taller, but you need to put that in context of the landscape. It’s a huge open area which was covered with commercial forestry, a lot of which we’ve taken away. We’ve turned the environment back to actually more of its natural state.”
He continued: “If we increase the size of the site and the output of the site, then we generate more renewable power for the country, which is a brilliant thing.”
Whitelee windfarm has been open to the public since it was opened in 2008. Scottish Power says the proposals would take place in three phases to maintain access to the visitor centre.
