Whitelee to expand to 593MW

Planning approval has been granted to expand Whitelee Wind Farm in East Renfrewshire. The addition of 39 turbines to the 140 existing turbines will give the ScottishPower development a total installed capacity of 593MW.

The Scottish government said the growth would enable the site to power 275,000 homes and support 200 jobs.

The expansion was announced by First Minister Alex Salmond at a news conference in Edinburgh.

He said: "Scotland continues to lead the way in developing the technology and capacity - in renewables, in carbon capture, in energy efficiency measures - to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change.

"The Whitelee extension underlines Scotland's place at the cutting edge of green energy and our comprehensive climate change framework, including the world-leading emission reduction targets of 42% and 80% by 2020 and 2050 respectively."