Scottish Utility Now Has Over 1 GW of Wind Power Capacity (& 2 New Wind Farms Planned)

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scotland wind energy

Scotland-based utility SSE revealed today that it now has over one gigawatt (GW) — 1,000 megawatts (MW) — of onshore wind power capacity installed and in operation. Pretty astounding, given the size of the country, but it fits Scotland’s tremendous renewable energy ambitions, which include getting 100% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2020.

“Good progress made at sites such as Clyde, Griffin and Gordonbush in Scotland and Slieve Kirk in Northern Ireland means that more than 300MW of onshore wind farm capacity has been commissioned by SSE in the first nine months of this financial year,” the company stated. “SSE’s onshore wind farm capacity has increased from just 40MW six years ago, and now exceeds its conventional hydro electric capacity of 1,150MW for the first time.”

This is why claims that renewable energy only accounts for a small percentage of our energy are so ridiculous — 1) such claims have nothing to do with the future, or clean energy potential; and 2) we’ve seen how fast clean energy options like wind can shoot up and become a major portion of a country’s or location’s energy supply.

Scotland Approves Construction of Two More Wind Farms

The world-leading country continues its clean energy march forward, of course — the Scottish government approved two more, large wind farms last week. According to UK green energy site BusinessGreen, “it has approved plans for the 177MW Dorenell wind farm on the Glenfiddich estate, near Dufftown in Moray, while also rubberstamping a proposed 21MW extension of the existing 104MW Muaitheabhal wind farm on the Eisgein estate in Lewis.”

For anyone not familiar with wind farm sizes, 21 MW is large, and 177 MW is absolutely gigantic.

The two projects combined are projected to provide enough electricity for 93,000 homes.

“These two projects will provide a significant boost to the economy and to our efforts to become a green energy powerhouse,” said energy minister Fergus Ewing.

“Once up and running, the Dorenell wind farm will produce enough green electricity to power double the number of homes in Moray, creating new jobs and cutting emissions… The Muaitheabhal extension will see extra capacity added to the existing plans and both developments will play an important part in helping Scotland reach its target of the equivalent of 100 per cent of electricity demand coming from renewables by 2020.”

Scotland wind farm via shutterstock


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Zachary Shahan

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

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