ScottishPower Renewables First To Hit 1GW Of Wind Power Generation
ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) has become the first developer to hit 1GW of wind power generation.
The magic number of 1GW was reached when ScottishPower Renewables opened Arecleoch and Mark Hill windfarms in South Ayrshire. It means SPR now has 24 operational windfarms across the UK – a total of over 770 wind turbines providing sources of renewable energy.
SPR’s 1GW of green electricity will supply around 600,000 homes and has been achieved after an investment of over £1 billion in wind energy over the last ten years. Not only has the investment helped SPR to reach 1GW of energy generation from wind power but the developments have also helped to create over 2,000 jobs for people involved in the construction and management of the windfarms.
ScottishPower Renewables is part of Iberdrola, the largest wind power company in the world so it comes as no surprise that it’s become the first developer to reach 1GW of wind power generation in the UK. SPR developments include the largest single project in Europe – Whitelee Windfarm near Glasgow which generates 322MW of electricity.
When the South Ayrshire windfarms were opened the Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond was joined by the Iberdrola Chairman, Ignacio Galan.
Mr Galan said “For ScottishPower Renewables, today is an especially satisfying day, because we have reached the ‘1,000 megawatt mark’ in wind energy generation. This clearly shows our commitment to clean energy and sustainable development in Scotland. Our Company is deeply committed to Scotland, and seeks to be a driver of growth and development, especially in the difficult international economic environment we are currently experiencing”.
Alex Salmond said “The opening of the Arecleoch and Mark Hill windfarms here in South Ayrshire is a significant milestone for ScottishPower Renewables. It also underlines both the rapid progress Scotland has made in clean energy generation and our industry’s leading role in the wider development of a genuinely low carbon economy across Europe. There are some 7 GW of renewables capacity currently installed, under construction or consented around Scotland, enabling us to exceed our target of meeting 31 per cent of our electricity use in 2011 from renewables”.
He added “It is through the leadership of companies such as ScottishPower Renewables that we have made such progress and why, as we increasingly develop our offshore energy resources, I am confident that we will achieve our target for Scotland to generate from renewables the equivalent of 100 per cent of our own electricity needs by 2020”.