As a responsible developer, we strive to be good neighbours in all aspects of our work. We are committed to the Dumfries and Galloway area and, in particular, to maximising opportunities for local communities to benefit from our projects.

We are proud to be supporting local communities and helping them to deliver long term aspirations. Our community funds across the UK total more than £37 million to date, with over £7 million invested in communities near our developments in Dumfries and Galloway.

Sharing the Benefit

Our community benefit funds have helped fund initiatives across Dumfries and Galloway, including supporting local schools, communities, clubs and associations across the region. Some of the initiatives that ScottishPower Renewables has supported in Dumfries and Galloway include:

• £20,000 to Soul Soup Counselling & Training to employ a counsellor.
• £14,000 to Solway Sharks Ice Hockey Club to purchase new equipment.
• £9,975 to Penpont Community Council to purchase a marquee for the community gala.
• £3,123 to Glencairn Green Bowling to install solar panels.

Our community benefit funds have helped fund initiatives across Dumfries and Galloway, including supporting local schools with new equipment, events and activities across the region.

We are working with Dumfries and Galloway Council and local stakeholders to ensure that renewable energy boosts the local economy and creates opportunities for local people.

Above: Local walking group at SPR’s Dersalloch Windfarm

Employment Opportunities

We are committed to maximising employment opportunities for those local to our projects by making sure that local people and businesses have the opportunity to be part of our industry’s success.

As a major infrastructure development, Harestanes South Windfarm Extension has the potential to create employment opportunities. If consent is granted, jobs would be created both during construction and after completion, in support of, operation and maintenance activities.  The estimated employment opportunities [1] are detailed below:

• Projected generation during construction of 52 jobs in Dumfries and Galloway and 155 jobs in Scotland as a whole.
• Operation of the proposed Development will create 9 permanent local jobs and will add £0.5million to the annual GVA of the local economy and approximately £0.7million to the Scottish economy as a whole.  

Opportunities for Local Businesses

New renewable energy developments can bring increased opportunities for local companies to gain new business. We are interested in working with local businesses that can provide a variety of skills and services during the construction phase and operational lifetime of our development. This may include services such as ground and road maintenance, catering, building trades and plant hire.

Above: Tower construction at SPR’s Kilgallioch Windfarm

We will host ‘Meet the Contractor’ events prior to construction, aimed specifically at small to medium enterprises, to discuss the types of contracts being let during construction and operation.

It is estimated that the project construction would boost the local economy by a total of £3 million of net additional GVA (gross value added) during the construction period (£9.2 million for Scotland as a whole).

[1] Estimates calculated using the methodology set out in Renewable UK’s publication Onshore Wind: Economic Impacts in 2014. April 2015.

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