Green Light for Scottish Kilgallioch Windfarm

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The Scottish government has granted permission for one its largest onshore windfarm projects to ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) (Glasgow, Scotland), part of Spanish energy giant, Iberdrola SA (MCE:IBE) (Bilbao, Spain).

The Kilgallioch windfarm will be located south of Barrhill in south west Scotland and will have a total generating capacity of 288-megawatts (MW), enough to power approximately 170,000 homes, when it is fully commissioned in 2016/17. The Scottish government demanded significant changes before permission was granted, which saw the original plan for 132 turbines with a generating capacity of 396 MW cut to 96 turbines with a capacity of 288 MW.

"The Kilgallioch Wind Farm will create jobs both in its construction and during its lifetime, as well as having the capacity to supply more than 130,000 homes with renewable electricity," explained Scottish Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing. "In consenting the application, I have put a number of conditions in place to protect the local wildlife and environment and recognise that measures have been taken to mitigate the impact of the development. The developers will fund two Countryside Rangers to help people enjoy the beautiful Southern Upland Way, as well as contributing to a fund for local environmental and energy projects."

Kilgallioch will be SPR's second largest onshore wind project, behind the 539 MW Whitelee windfarm, the largest onshore windfarm in the U.K..Investment in the project will run to €463 million ($618 million) with work kicking off late next year. SPR owns and operates windfarms with a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 MW around the U.K..

Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables, noted: "Kilgallioch is a very significant renewable energy project that will make a major contribution towards both Scotland's and the U.K.'s carbon reduction targets. It represents a major investment in new electricity generation in Scotland, and will sustain hundreds of jobs during construction, helping to boost the local and regional economy in South West Scotland. Between 2012 and 2014 we are investing a further £1.3 billion in renewables in the U.K.".

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