Europe's biggest wind farm gets go-ahead

The Scottish Executive has given Europe’s largest onshore wind farm the go-ahead. The 152-turbine Clyde wind farm, near Abington in South Lanarkshire, will be capable of powering up to 320,000 homes, bring £600 million of investment during construction and should create some 200 jobs, with approximately 30 staff employed when fully operational.

First Minister Alex Salmond said: “The Clyde wind farm will represent a very important step in the development of renewable energy in Scotland and in meeting shared European targets.”

The Clyde wind farm application was submitted by Airtricity. The wind farm will be built in clusters of turbines on either side of the M74 motorway.

It will have a total capacity of up to 548MW. At present, the largest wind farm to be given the go-ahead in Scotland is Whitelee, on Eaglesham Moor, south of Glasgow, which is currently under construction and will have a total capacity of 322MW.