Location

The site is located on the Eaglesham Moor, 15km South of Glasgow and 6km South West of East Kilbride. The proposed development spans East Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire Councils.

The proposed repowering windfarm will situate the same location as the operational Whitelee Windfarm, with an extension to the south of the site of approximately 2km.

Current Stage

SPR has recently submitted a Scoping Report to the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) seeking a formal scoping opinion from statutory consultees and stakeholders on our future plans. The Scoping Report and supporting documents are available on the ECU website (ref: ECU00006441) and can be viewed below on this webpage.

Project History

The operational Whitelee and Whitelee Extension Windfarms, consented in 2006 and 2009 respectively, have a combined total of 215 turbines which generate 539MW. By repowering the site, the proposed development aims to significantly increase the generation capacity to around 1GW whilst reducing the number of turbines. 

Since opening in 2009, the windfarm’s visitor centre has welcomed over one million visitors. The site has supported the restoration of 1,000 hectares of peatland and provides a wide range of recreational facilities for walkers, runners, cyclists, and horse riders. It also hosts popular annual events, including the Whitelee Family Fun Day and the Nae Fireworks Night.

At this early stage in the development process, SPR have examined several environmental considerations, through historical data, knowledge of the site and updated surveying, which has helped inform the design of the proposed repowering layout. SPR will continue to undertake further surveys to fully understand the site’s potential for future development.

If you wish to learn more about repowering, please find further information here.

Community Consultation

Early consultation is key to the way SPR develops projects, and throughout the development process SPR seek to ensure local communities and stakeholders are given the opportunity to provide feedback and are kept informed of project progress.

SPR will be hosting Public Information Events to gain feedback on our proposal from the local community and to provide a better understanding of our vision for the proposed Development. Further information on the Public Information Events will be available in due course. You can also contact the Project Team at any time via the project mailbox address noted in the "Contact" section below.

Benefit

As a responsible developer and operator of renewable energy, SPR believes the benefits of our projects should be shared with the communities in which we work.

During the operation of our onshore renewable energy developments, we create and support community benefit funds, empowering communities to deliver projects that best serve the needs of their local area. To date, SPR’s operational onshore windfarms have contributed over £75 million to communities across the United Kingdom. 

These contributions have helped to fund projects across East Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire Council areas such as, The Spark Park at Mearns Primary School, Ayrshire Railway Preservation Group, and the East Kilbride United.

Unique to the Whitelee, the Community Benefit Funds deliver the Countryside Ranger Service to support access and activity programmes at the windfarm across the year including the very popular Nae Fireworks Night.

As part of this repowering project, SPR will work with the local communities to distribute the community benefit fund amongst neighbouring communities.
Community benefit funds have led to the delivery of a diverse range of projects, which include environmental improvements, educational programmes, heritage projects, the purchase of community transport vehicles, investment in energy efficiency measures within community buildings, and much more. Read more about how we engage with our communities here: Powering Communities

Contact

The Project Team can be contacted directly by emailing: whiteleerepowering@scottishpower.com   

Or by post at:

FAO: Whitelee Windfarm Repower Project Team
ScottishPower Renewables
9th Floor ScottishPower Headquarters
320 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, G2 5AD