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Scotland has largest onshore wind farm in EU

Scotland is now home to the EU's largest onshore wind farm, according to ScottishPower.

The 91st turbine has gone up at the company's Whitelee wind farm near Glasgow giving it a renewable energy generation capacity of 209.3 megawatts (MW).

It is now bigger than the previous record holder, the Maranchon wind farm in Guadalajara, Spain, which is operated by ScottishPower's parent company Iberdrola.

But the Whitelee farm is set to keep on growing, with the next phase of construction set to take its number of turbines up to 140, which will have the capacity to generate 322MW.

Permission has also been sought to build an additional 36 turbines on the 55 kilometre site, which would take the total generating capacity to 425MW.

Keith Anderson, director of ScottishPower Renewables, said: "Large projects like Whitelee are essential if we are to meet challenging renewable energy targets."

He also commended Chancellor Alistair Darling for extending the Renewables Obligation until 2037, saying: "This commitment will greatly strengthen investor confidence in UK renewable industry."

According to the British Wind Energy Association, there are 2,388 operational wind turbines in the UK with a generating capacity of 3,173.715MW, enough to power the equivalent of 1,774,579.
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