ScottishPower secures $904 million in green power contracts

The contracts are the biggest in Scotland's history and will see ScottishPower provide electricity generated from renewable sources to all of Scotland's large public buildings, from schools and hospitals to prisons and libraries. ScottishPower won three out of the four contracts up for grabs with the fourth going to UK utility Scottish & Southern Energy PLC.

The Scottish & Southern contract relates to the provision of low carbon and renewable-based power from sources including combined heat and power, solar and biomass. Scottish & Southern will also generate power from its Glendoe conventional large-scale hydroelectric power station, the first to be used in Scotland for 50 years.

"At a time of high energy prices, this government has secured significant savings for taxpayers, allowing up to 10 million pounds a year of efficiencies to be spent on other front line services," said Scotland's Finance Secretary John Swinney. "On top of saving money this contract will create a greener Scotland. The public sector needs to show leadership if we are to achieve the ambitions of our Climate Change Bill. The contracts will help public bodies address emissions from energy use through a range of energy efficiency measures, access to renewable generation sources and opportunities to sell green electricity back to the Grid. The public sector spends 8 billion pounds on procurement every year and this is another great example of radical procurement reform in action."

Willie MacDiarmid, Director of Energy Retail at ScottishPower, said, "The opportunity to supply green energy to our country's large public buildings, from the Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh Castle to all schools and hospitals, is a major achievement."

Much of the renewable power will come from ScottishPower's Whitelee windfarm near Glasgow, the largest onshore windfarm in Europe. The 322-megawatt farm is using 140 Siemens wind turbines (SWT), rated at 2.3 MW. They will be composed of 100 SWT 2.3-93 and 40 SWT 2.3-82 VS models.