May 26 - Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, has officially "switched on" the largest operational onshore wind farm in Europe.
The 140-turbine Whitelee wind farm is situated on Eaglesham Moor, in East Renfrewshire.
This, however, merely represents the start of the plan - Scottish Power's application to extend its £300 million, 140-turbine Whitelee facility has been granted. During the construction of the initial phase, the wind power facility employed over 500 people and contributed £300 million to the Scottish economy. The expanded farm will have the capacity to power 250,000 homes and will enable the creation of up to 300 new "green" jobs.
The Scottish Government have now approved 23 major energy projects since May 2007. This represents more determinations than were made over the whole of the previous four years.
Mr Salmond pointed out that Scotland's potential for generating energy from renewable was now up to 60GW - more than 10 times the country's peak demand. He added that, even in its current form, Whitelee was flying the flag for onshore wind power in Europe.
Further details can be found on the Scottish Government website at: www.scotland.gov.uk
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