South Lanarkshire scheme will let Scotland hit its renewables target

The Scottish government has given the go-ahead to build an onshore wind farm in South Lanarkshire that will become the biggest such scheme in Europe.

By providing enough power for 320,000 homes, the 548MW farm will enable Scotland to meet its target of sourcing 31% of its energy from renewables by 2020.

The scheme will be considerably bigger than Europe's largest existing wind farm, the 208MW Maranchon farm operating in Guadalajara, Spain. It will also dwarf the 322MW farm being built on Eaglesham Moor, south of Glasgow.

The 152-turbine farm will be built near Abington, beside the M74 motorway from Glasgow to Carlisle.

Its construction is expected to create 200 building jobs and generate £600m of local investment. Building work is due to start in 2010, with completion the following year.

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