Work Begins On £300 Million Kilgallioch Windfarm
Work has begun on the £300 million, 239 MW Kilgallioch Windfarm, located 5 kilometres south of Barrhill, in Scotland.
ScottishPower Renewables, a unit of Iberdrola, officially began construction on the 239 MW Kilgallioch Windfarm this week, beginning with the construction of 55 kilometres worth of tracks, as well as upgrading 14 kilometres of existing forest tracks, across the 32 kilometre-square construction site, which will eventually link the 96 wind turbines set to be installed.
Upon completion, which is expected some time in 2017, the Kilgallioch project is expected to generate the equivalent electricity needed to power 130,000 households annually. Furthermore, the project will become the UK’s third largest onshore wind farm, when powered up.
“Kilgallioch is a major renewable energy development and a significant construction project,” said Stuart Mason, Construction Director at ScottishPower Renewables. “As well as making an important contribution to Scotland’s carbon reduction targets, tens of millions of pounds will go towards supporting community projects in the vicinity of the windfarm.”
Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa was awarded the contract to supply the 96 required turbines for the project back in May of this year. Gamesa will provide 94 of its G114-2.5 MW turbines and two G90-2.0 MW turbines to the Kilgallioch wind farm, which was the largest order for Gamesa’s G114-2.5 MW turbine model up to that date.
“This milestone agreement with ScottishPower Renewables evidences the success of our commercial strategy in northern Europe, one of Gamesa’s priority markets, and demonstrates the credibility garnered by our new products – which offer market-leading efficiency and profitability – in the eyes of our customers,” said Ricardo Chocarro, Gamesa’s CEO for Europe & RoW.
“This will be ScottishPower Renewables’ second largest windfarm, and the third largest overall in the UK,” continued Stuart Mason. “We currently have more than 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of installed onshore wind capacity in the UK, and Kilgallioch will help us on our way to achieving a 2 GW milestone – enough to power over 1 million homes.”
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