Scottish Power has announced plans to double the generating capacity at the UK’s largest onshore windfarm, Whitelee in East Renfrewshire, as it reported increased half-year earnings of £1.7 billion.
The company intends to “repower” the site by replacing the existing turbines with a smaller number of considerably taller ones. Under the plans, the current 214 turbines could be reduced to 124, increasing installed capacity from 533MW to over 1GW, making it one of the largest in Europe.
Turbine details and timeline
The current 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. Construction would take place in the 2030s, with commissioning aimed around 2035.
Scottish Power’s chief executive Keith Anderson said 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 opened in 2008. Scottish Power says the proposals would take place in three phases to maintain access to the visitor centre.
Financial results
The announcement came as the energy giant revealed that recent investment in infrastructure helped drive a jump in profits. Scottish Power said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose by 17% to £1.7 billion in the first six months of 2026, compared with a year earlier.
The group said this came on the back of investment into its grid and clean power assets, including its takeover of Electricity North West. This was also supported by a stronger output from its renewables division and the sale of some assets, including its metering business. Nevertheless, Scottish Power also reported that underlying profits from its retail business decreased due to a fall in margins, lower energy use and rising policy costs linked to “energy efficiency schemes”.
