Clyde Wind Farm, Scotland, United Kingdom

The Clyde Wind Farm is being developed by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE). Image courtesy of Windhoist.
 
Construction on the £500m wind farm commenced in 2009 and is expected to be completed in 2012. Image courtesy of Windhoist.
 
The project comprises of 152 Siemens wind turbine generators with a total installed capacity of 350MW. Image courtesy of Windhoist.
 http://www.power-technology.com/projects/clyde-wind-farm/
Clyde Wind Farm is an onshore wind-based power project being developed by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), a British energy company based in southern Scotland. The wind farm is located between the towns of Biggar and Moffat in South Lanarkshire.
The project, with an estimated investment of £500m, is one of the biggest single consented wind farms in Europe. When commissioned, it will be the largest onshore wind farm in Europe, with a maximum total generation capacity of up to 350MW. It is planned to be completed in 2012.
The new plant will generate more than 1,000GWh of electricity a year, enough to power 200,000 households. It will play an important role in the Scottish Government's target of producing 50% of the country's total electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
The Clyde wind farm will be owned and operated by Airtricity, the renewable energy development division of SSE.

Development and construction of the Scottish power project

"Airtricity has set up a Clyde Wind Farm Fund (CWFF) for the benefit of local communities. SSE is contributing £2,000 a year for each MW produced."

SSE received permission for the development of the Clyde wind farm in July 2008. The wind farm covers a total area of 47.5km² and is divided by the M74 motorway passing through the villages of Abington, Elvanfoot and Crawford.
Construction on the project commenced in 2009. Due to its vast size, the project has been divided into three areas: the south, central and north.
The 130MW south section came into operation in September 2011. The first turbine was connected to the national grid in June 2011.
The central and north sections are under construction. Turbine deliveries for the central section commenced in the second half of 2011.
In October 2011, SSE submitted an application for the extension of the Clyde wind farm. The new development will include 57 wind turbines with a combined installed capacity of 171MW. It will be located at Camps Reservoir, northeast of the Clyde wind farm.

Clyde wind farm make-up

The wind farm will include 152 Siemens wind turbine generators (WTG), each rated at 2.3MW. It will thus have an installed capacity of approximately 350MW. The south section has 56 wind turbines, the north section is being installed with 27, while the central section will have 69 turbines.
All WTGs will be erected on reinforced concrete gravity bases with a hub height of 80m and a blade diameter of approximately 90m.
The wind farm will also be installed with 13 anemometer masts to measure wind performance. Power generated by the facility will be transmitted to the national grid via two large sub-stations.
The wind farm is expected to be operational for 25 years. After the end of its operational life, either the WTGs will be dismantled and removed from the site or permission will be sought to keep or replace the existing turbines.

Contractors and companies involved

Airtricity awarded a contract to Siemens in September 2009 for the wind turbines. The scope of the contract includes supply, installation and commissioning of the wind turbines. Siemens will also take over the responsibility of operating and maintaining the turbines for an initial period of five years.

"The Clyde wind farm will be owned and operated by Airtricity, the renewable energy development division of SSE."

Towers for all the wind turbines are being manufactured by Welcon Towers at its Machrihanish factory in Argyll.
Blackwell Group, a civil engineering contractor, was given a £9.6m contract to undertake the main works of the north section. Blackwell was also the main contractor of the south section.
Land Use Consultants (LUC) is acting as an ecological clerk of works for the full construction period. It was also assigned to design a layout that suits the surrounding landscape. Headland Archaeology undertook an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and prepared the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on behalf of Airtricity.
Fairhurst is providing civil, structural and geo-technical engineering. All the wind turbines are being erected by Windhoist.

Local benefits of SSE's onshore wind-based power project

SSE has announced that more than £200m of the contracts will be awarded to Scottish companies. The project has created more than 200 construction jobs. In addition, four to eight people will be given full-time jobs for the operation of the facility and another 20 to 23 full-time equivalent jobs will be created to carry out maintenance and operational checks.
Airtricity has also set up a Clyde Wind Farm Fund (CWFF) for the benefit of local communities. SSE is contributing £2,000 a year for each MW produced.
The fund will thus be worth £700,000 a year once the wind farm is fully operational. This fund can be utilised to secure investment, create employment, secure sustainable development or implement training.