Massive EU windfarm to be expanded

Alstom Whitelee Windfarm Expansion accelerates onshore wind growth near Glasgow, adding 75 ECO 100 and ECO 74 turbines to boost renewable energy capacity to 539 MW by May 2012 under Iberdrola and ScottishPower Renewables.

The largest windfarm in Europe is set to grow by another 217 megawatts MW following a deal between ScottishPower Renewables and Alstom SA.

The deal, worth more than 200 million euros, will see Alstom supply 75 wind turbines to the Whitelee onshore windfarm, located 15 kilometres south of Glasgow. Whitelee currently has 140 turbines capable of producing 322 MW of energy, but the new turbines will boost the facility's electricity-generating capacity to 539 MW. The additional capacity will come online in May 2012.

Alstom will supply 69 ECO 100 wind turbines, each with an output of 3 MW, and six ECO 74 wind turbines, with an output of 1.67 MW, reflecting momentum also seen in a Vestas UK windfarm contract announcement. Alstom is responsible for the supply, transportation, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the turbines. The Whitelee windfarm currently uses 140 Siemens wind turbines, rated at 2.3 MW each.

The Whitelee contract forms part of a larger deal between Alstom and Scottish Power's parent company, Spanish energy giant of Iberdrola SA, to provide 250 wind turbines to nine Iberdrola windfarms in Spain and the UK, as the UK adds more offshore wind to its pipeline. The windfarms will have a combined capacity of 500 MW.

"Alstom is a significant force in the U.K. power generation industry and is now establishing a strong position in renewable energy," said Stephen Burgin, country president and head of power for Alstom in the UK. "The successful culmination of this contract, as well as the 26-MW onshore windfarm we are constructing at Maesgwyn in South Wales, confirms our commitment to the UK renewable energy market, as the offshore wind network evolves."

Alstom recently completed a smaller 15-MW windfarm at Clachan Flats, Scotland, for Scottish Power Renewables, following ScottishPower green contracts momentum in the UK. The windfarm uses nine Alstom ECO 74 turbines, generating enough electricity to power more than 8,500 homes.

Through Scottish Power Renewables, Iberdrola is the leading generator of onshore electricity in the UK, with an installed capacity of 816 MW. The company also has 2,300 MW of wind projects under development in the UK, including the 500-MW West of Duddon Sands facility in the Irish Sea, which it is developing with Dong Energy A/S. Construction is expected to begin in 2012. In January, Iberdrola and partner Vattenfall Vindkraft were awarded rights to build a 7,200-MW offshore windfarm at the Norfolk Bank Zone as part of the UK government's awarding of Round 3 offshore wind contracts in the country.

In June this year, Iberdrola announced that it expects to invest a massive 9 billion euros US $11.5 billion in wind power projects, amid offshore projects on the rise across the sector, by 2012. The investments, which are primarily in the UK and United States, will see the company's wind power portfolio grow from about 12,000 MW to 16,000 MW.

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