After 10 years in the making, the last wind turbine of the largest onshore wind energy project in Europe was switched on yesterday just outside Glasgow in Scotland.
The Whitelee project is made up of 140 wind turbines and will provide enough electricity for around 180,000 homes. The £300m (US $474m) wind farm was built by Scottish Power – part of the Iberdrola group which employs around 9000 people in the UK.
The wind turbines are located on an area 55 km2 in size – roughly the same as the urban area of Glasgow. The wind energy project is expected to provide enough electricity to offset 500,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. At its peak over 500 people were working on the wind energy project.
A proposal to extend the wind farm by another 130 MW has already been approved by the Scottish Government, providing electricity for a further 70,000 homes. Further future extensions to the wind farm are also planned taking the capacity of the project up to a huge 600 MW.
What is interesting about Whitelee wind energy project is its proximity to a large population centre. There are according to Scottish Power more than 500,000 people living within a 30km of Whitelee.
Turning on the final turbines at Whitelee yesterday, Scottish Power’s Chairman Ignacio Galán said: “Whitelee is a milestone in the history of Scotland, not only representing the largest wind farm in Europe but also one of the largest in the world.”
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond MSP visited the wind farm to congratulate Scottish Power on the completion of the wind farm and to talk about the future green economy in Scotland. Salmond said:
“Today we announce further investment, more jobs and greater progress of Scotland’s clean, green energy revolution.
“Our potential for electricity generation from renewables is up to 60GW – more than ten times our peak demand. We have launched the world’s greatest single prize for innovation in marine energy, the £10 million Saltire Prize; we are developing and applying clean fossil fuel technology; we have an unrivalled competitive advantage in carbon capture and storage; we have approved Siadar, one of the largest wave energy projects on the planet; as well as developing and consenting hydro and biomass projects. Harnessing all these opportunities has the potential to create more than 16,000 jobs in Scotland over the next decade.”
Companies with deep pockets and healthy balance sheets, like Scottish Power are currently ruling the renewable energy marketplace. Big utilities are taking advantage of – previously very competitive opportunities to buy projects and companies to expand their businesses.
Last week German utility giant RWE Innogy, through its subsidiary company Agrupació Energías Renovables S.A.U. (AERSA), increased its share of the Spanish wind farm operator Danta de Energías S.A. from 44% to 93.7%. This move expands RWE Innogy’s wind energy portfolio in Spain to an installed capacity of around 400 megawatts. Speculators believe that the price paid for the 104 wind turbine development was in the region of 100 million euros.
Kevin McCullough, COO of RWE Innogy said “The Spanish wind market is among the most attractive in Europe, which makes it particularly important for our growth strategy. The wind farms in which we have now acquired a majority stake are an excellent fit for our existing portfolio.”
RWE has a target of investing US$ 1.4bn in clean energy per year and in the same month bought a 27% stake in Belgium offshore wind energy company – C-Power. The project company is developing a 300MW wind farm known as Thornton Bank in Belgium.
