Wind power in Scotland

Wind power in Scotland is an area of considerable activity. Wind power is the fastest growing of the renewable energy technologies in Scotland and the world's largest wind turbine generator (5 MW) is currently undergoing testing in the North Sea, 15 miles off the east coast. There are numerous large wind farms as well as a number, both planned and operating, which are in community ownership. The siting of turbines has become an issue of some controversy. There is further potential for expansion, especially offshore, given the high average wind speeds.

World's largest wind turbine

5 MW wind turbine under construction at Nigg fabrication yard on the Cromarty Firth

The world's largest wind turbine was assembled in August 2006 and is currently undergoing testing in the North Sea 15 miles off the east coast of Scotland near the Beatrice Oil Field. This is the first time these enormous offshore wind turbines have actually been tested offshore, and the first time any wind turbine generator has been assembled in such deep (44 metres) water. Such large wind turbine generators are ideally suited to the offshore environment thanks to high consistent wind speeds and minimal turbulence. According to historical measures of wind speeds at the Beatrice offshore location, it is expected that the turbines will run 96% of the time (8440 hours per year), and at 5 MW full power 38% of the time (3300 hours per year).

Black Law Wind Farm

The 42-turbine Black Law Wind Farm has a total capacity of 97 megawatts (MW), sufficient to meet the average electricity needs of 70,000 homes each year - or a town the size of Paisley - and is estimated to save around 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

The £90 million Black Law Wind Farm is located near Forth in Lanarkshire and has been built on old opencast coalmine site which was completely restored to shallow wetlands during the construction programme. It employs seven permanent staff on site and created 200 jobs during construction. Scottish Power is expected to complete the second phase of the project this summer, which will see the installation of a further 12 turbines.

The project has received wide recognition for its contribution to environmental objectives, including praise from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, who said that the scheme was not only improving the landscape in a derelict opencast mining site, but also benefiting a range of wildlife in the area, with an extensive habitat management projects covering over 14 square kilometres.

Hadyard Hill Wind Farm

Hadyard Hill Wind Farm, owned and operated by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), has become the first wind farm in the UK able to generate over 100 megawatts (MW) of power. The 120 MW, 52-turbine wind farm in South Ayrshire cost £85 million and in a year will generate enough electricity to power 80,000 homes, sufficient to supply every household in a city the size of York. The production of zero carbon electricity at the wind farm is expected to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by almost 300,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to taking 70,000 cars off the road.

Whitelee Wind Farm

The 322 MW Whitelee Wind Farm is under construction in Scotland. The onshore wind farm, with its planned 140 wind turbines, is situated south of Glasgow on 55 square kilometres of open moorland. The project is expected to become operational in 2008 and, when completed in summer 2009, produce more than two percent of the country's annual electricity needs. The £300 million (US$560 million) windfarm will be operated by Scottish Power.

South Lanarkshire Wind Farm

Approval has been given for the South Lanarkshire Wind Farm which will be a 548 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Scotland. The 152-turbine project will be capable of powering 320,000 homes.

Wind variability

Most turbines in the European Union produce electricity at an average of 25% of their rated maximum power due to the variability of wind resources, but Scotland's wind regime provides average capacity factor of 40% or higher on the west and northern coasts. A small wind farm on Shetland with three Vestas V47 660 kW turbines recently achieved a world record of 58% capacity over the course of a year. This record is claimed by Burradale windfarm, located just a few miles outside Lerwick and operated by Shetland Aerogenerators Ltd. Since opening in 2000, the turbines at this wind farm have had an average capacity factor of 52% and, according to this report, in 2005 averaged a world record 57.9%.

Aesthetics and landscape issues

Siting of some wind turbines has become an issue amongst those concerned about the value of natural landscapes. The John Muir Trust has stated that "the best renewable energy options around wild land are small-scale, sensitively sited and adjacent to the communities directly benefiting from them", although even community-owned schemes can prove controversial. For example, a small-scale scheme proposed by North Harris Development Trust has been supported by the John Muir Trust, but opposed by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Community ownership

The wind turbines at Findhorn, which make the Ecovillage a net exporter of electricity.

There are in fact relatively few community-owned schemes in Scotland. These include a three V27 wind turbine system near the manufacturer Vestas's Scottish base in Kintyre, operated by Gigha Renewable Energy Ltd. which is capable of generating up to 675 kW of power. Gigha residents control the whole project and profits are reinvested in the community. Findhorn Ecovillage has four Vestas wind turbines which can generate up to 750kW. These make the community net exporters of renewably generated electricity. Most of the generation is used on-site with any surplus exported to the national grid. Boyndie Wind Farm Co-operative is part of the Energy4All group, which promotes community ownership. A number of other schemes supported by Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company are in the pipeline.

Beauly-Denny

A major bottleneck to the growth of the wind in Scotland is the ability of the grid to accommodate and distribute the energy generated. A proposed 400kV upgrade to the existing 132 kV transmission network, seen as key to future expansion has been held up in planning for three years, with vocal opposition from some sectors . The proposed 220km circuit is to run from Beauly, west of Inverness to Denny, west of Falkirk.

Potential

It is estimated that 11.5 GW of onshore wind potential exists, enough to provide 45 TWh of energy. More than double this amount exists on offshore sites where mean wind speeds are greater than on land. The total offshore potential is estimated at 25 GW, and although more expensive to install could be enough to provide almost half the total energy used in Scotland.

According to a recent report, the world's wind market offers many opportunities for Scottish companies, with total global revenue over the next five years estimated at £35 billion and continued growth forecast until at least 2025.

See also

• British Wind Energy Association
• Renewable energy in Scotland
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Renewable energy in the European Union
• Wind power in the United Kingdom
• Wind turbines (UK domestic)

External links

• Where weather means energy, BBC, 2007
• Turbine shortage to leave some Scottish communities in the dark