In just seven years’ time, Scotland has committed to reducing carbon emissions by 75% and more than doubling its renewable energy production.
They’re bold targets as the world marches towards a Net Zero future which, without serious actions, hangs in the balance.
At ScottishPower, our renewables business is forging ahead with ensuring we have the best possible chance.
Building new windfarms, and maximising existing sites, is key if we want to supercharge the country’s 13.4 Gigawatts of renewable electricity generation capacity with the 20 Gigawatts of additional low-cost renewable electricity capacity by the Scottish Government’s 2030 target.
No mean feat but I’m confident if we can work at pace and unlock planning and investment, we can harness Scotland’s true power – we are the windiest country in Europe after all.
This week I witnessed turbines start to come down at our Hagshaw Hill windfarm in South Lanarkshire after 30 years of delivering green electricity for the community.
It was Scotland’s first commercial windfarm and has generated over 895MWh since 1995 – but technology has advanced to the stage where its ready to be supercharged.
Work will continue this year and into next, but a fully repowered site will produce five times the power of the old site with just over half the number of turbines – powering almost half the homes in South Lanarkshire (around 61,000).
In fact, three of the 14 new, more powerful, and efficient machines we’re installing will generate the same power as all 26 original turbines we’re now removing.
The Hagshaw Hill repowering project is part of ScottishPower Renewables’ wider ambition to maximise the efficiency of the existing sites we know can deliver the green, zero carbon electricity we need to reach Net Zero.
Building new renewable generation, whether onshore or offshore wind, is critical if Scotland is to reach its 2030 goal – but repowering is a crucial part of the mix, and we need to be able to do it faster than current legislation allows.
We know these sites and their environments; we know how to look after them and we know how much more they can deliver for the UK if we can repower them fast enough.