Local communities in East Renfrewshire are set to receive a share of around £5 million a year in community benefit funding as part of plans to repower the Whitelee Windfarm.
ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) said the funding will be shared across the three local authority areas covered by the windfarm. It compares with £20 million paid out over the lifetime of the existing development, making it almost five times the annual average received so far.
The company also said local communities will have the opportunity to be involved in the project through the potential for partial shared ownership.
SPR has announced plans to expand and repower Whitelee, describing it as a £1.5 billion investment that will almost double the windfarm’s generating capacity while creating hundreds of jobs and £500 million in supply chain opportunities.
The company said the project could increase Whitelee’s output from enough electricity to power the equivalent of 350,000 homes to around 650,000 homes.
SPR Chief Executive Charlie Jordan said: “Whitelee is not just an iconic windfarm and the jewel in the UK’s renewables crown, it has also grown into a much-loved asset for the local communities.
“With the habitat restoration and accessibility work over the past two decades, it’s now a real haven for dog-walkers, runners and nature lovers, as well as being a favourite educational trip destination for schools throughout the central belt.
“We are incredibly proud of the part Whitelee plays in the community and of all the benefit that has been derived for local people so far, and it was a central element of our planning to ensure that continues and grows.
“So the communities of East Renfrewshire will receive even more community benefit and there will be improvements to the hugely popular visitor centre, which has welcomed over 1 million visitors through its doors since opening.
“In a huge new step for the industry as a whole, the community will also be closely involved in the project itself with the potential opportunity for shared ownership. We will work with them to determine the best possible way to make this happen.”
The work will be carried out in three phases. SPR said it aims to maintain public access to parts of the site throughout the project, subject to health and safety requirements, while ensuring continued access once the work is complete.
Charlie Jordan added: “We want to build on the existing success of our windfarms before they reach the end of their natural lifespan and we lose all the benefit and are forced to start all over again.
“Whitelee will set the standard for that programme by unlocking the further potential of existing infrastructure.
“With our growing reliance on home-grown clean, green energy, it is vital that we future-proof the industry and don’t rest on our laurels.
“As the wind energy sector continues to evolve, we now have an opportunity to almost double the output from Whitelee, continuing to increase the UK’s energy security while creating jobs and benefitting the environment, the economy and the local communities.”
Whitelee Windfarm was commissioned in 2008 with 140 turbines and opened to the public in 2009. Two later extensions increased the total number of turbines to 215.
Under the new proposals, the number of turbines would reduce to 124, with taller turbines of up to 250 metres increasing the windfarm’s capacity from 539 megawatts to one gigawatt.
The plans also include a new substation in the East Renfrewshire section of the site.
SPR said it has been working with landowners, including Forestry and Land Scotland and Scottish Power, on the proposals.
The plans have been lodged with the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit and are expected to be published online in the coming weeks.
A planning application is expected to be submitted in December 2027, with the repowered windfarm planned to be operational by 2035.