Black Law Wind Farm

Black Law Wind Farm
Black Law Wind Farm with the Pentland Hills in the background
Country United Kingdom, Scotland
Location near Forth, Lanarkshire
Coordinates 55°46′01″N 03°44′20″W / 55.76694°N 3.73889°W / 55.76694; -3.73889Coordinates: 55°46′01″N 03°44′20″W / 55.76694°N 3.73889°W / 55.76694; -3.73889
Status Operational
Commission date September 2005
Construction cost £90 million
Owner(s) Scottish Power
Power generation
Units operational 54 x 2.3 MW, 11 x 1.67 MW, 23 x 2 MW,
Make and model Siemens 2.3 MW
Nameplate capacity 188 MW

The 88-turbine Black Law Wind Farm has a total capacity of 188 megawatts (MW). The first phase of 42 turbines was the largest sufficient to meet the average electricity needs of 70,000 homes each year - or a town the size of Paisley - and is estimated to save around 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.[1]

The £90 million wind farm is located near Forth in Lanarkshire and has been built on an old opencast coalmine site which was completely restored to shallow wetlands during the construction programme. It employs seven permanent staff on site and created 200 jobs during construction. Phase 1 was the first built in 2005, consisting of 42 turbines, which at the time was the largest onshore wind farm in the UK. Phase 2 added another 12 turbines in 2006, with subsequent extensions in 2017 bringing the total turbine count to 88.[1]

The project has received wide recognition for its contribution to environmental objectives, including praise from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, who said that the scheme was not only improving the landscape in a derelict opencast mining site, but also benefiting a range of wildlife in the area, with an extensive habitat management projects covering over 14 square kilometres.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 UK's most powerful wind farm could power Paisley

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