Located near the town of Dumfries in southern Scotland, this renewable facility has 68 wind turbines, each with 2 MW unit capacity.
IBERDROLA, through its subsidiary ScottishPower Renewables, officially opened the 136 megawatt (MW) Harestanes Windfarm, one of the largest onshore wind farms in the United Kingdom.
The project, with an investment of £160 million, has 68 Gamesa G87 and G80 wind turbines, with 2 MW unit capacity each. Construction work has also included the development of new operations and maintenance building, and the creation of 11km of new tracks and paths which will be opened to members of the public for recreational use.
Harestanes will produce enough renewable energy to meet the average electricity demands of over 73,000 homes and will avoid the emission of some 250,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere per year.
Located south of Scotland, near the city of Dumfries, the site covers an area of 20 km2 in the Forest of Ae, which is managed by Forestry Commission Scotland.
The Harestanes project has seen a positive economic and social impact in the area over the past two years, providing contracts for a range of local business during construction and supporting more than 150 jobs. The project was also one of the drivers behind the creation of a new turbine technician course at nearby Dumfries and Galloway College which was designed to help students gain recognized qualifications to manage windfarm operation and maintenance activities.
Harestanes windfarm was recently opened by Fergus Ewing, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism in Scotland, and Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables, who showed their full support for renewable energy and highlighted Scotland’s target of 100 per cent of electricity demand generated from renewables.
United Kingdom, a strategic country for IBERDROLA
IBERDROLA has been developing in recent years large renewable projects in the United Kingdom, including onshore and offshore wind as well as wave and tidal energy projects.
As regards to onshore wind, the Company now has over 1,400 MW of installed capacity, spread over 30 windfarms, owning one of the largest facilities in Europe, the 539-MW Whitelee windfarm, on the outskirts of Glasgow.
The United Kingdom has also become a key country for IBERDROLA in offshore wind energy. Later this year, commissioning of the Company’s first offshore windfarm, the 389-MW West Of Duddon Sands (WODS) is to be completed. Also, the Company has recently received planning consent for the 1,200-MW East Anglia One offshore windfarm, which, when constructed, will become IBERDROLA´s largest renewable energy facility.
Finally, IBERDROLA has in Scotland its main testing grounds to progress investigation in other marine technologies for electricity generation. The Company is testing two devices at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), located on the island of Orkney, the wave energy prototype, Pelamis, and the Hammerfest tidal device.