Scottish ministers have approved the 152-turbine, 456 megawatt Clyde Wind Farm, to be built alongside the M74 motorway near Abington. Construction is scheduled to begin next year and all phases of the project to be completed by 2011. The project is expected to cost £600 million and will create 200 jobs during construction, with 30 remaining once the project is operational. Scottish and Southern Energy , the project’s developer, estimates that the windfarm will produce enough electricity to power 320,000 homes.
Scotland has a renewable energy target of generating 50% of all its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Approval for the project was welcomed by WWF Scotland director, Dr Richard Dixon.
The under-construction wind farm on Eaglesham Moor will have a total capacity of 322MW.
Currently the biggest operational wind farm in Europe is the Maranchon wind farm in Guadalajara, Spain, which has a generating capacity of 208MW.
– from BBC