A wind farm is to be developed in South Lanarkshire following the completion of a new lease between Hargreaves Land and BayWa r.e., a global renewable energy company.
Dalquhandy Wind Farm which is located at the former open cast coal site near Coalburn, is to be developed by BayWa r.e. after the company completed the lease for the development of a 42MW wind farm.
Preliminary works started on the £60m construction project in mid-March and it is hoped that the wind farm will be operational by late 2022.
Ten wind turbines, with a maximum height of 149.9 metres, will be installed along with associated access tracks, platforms, substation and electrical infrastructure. The substation will also include office and welfare facilities for the operational teams who will maintain the site.
Philip Rayson, senior planning & development manager at Hargreaves Land, said: “The Dalquhandy site has been extensively restored since mining operations ceased in the 1990s and the existing network of access tracks provide a great starting point for the new wind farm construction.
“The development of wind farms is one of a number of long term uses which we have helped to facilitate to revitalise and regenerate former mining sites and we look forward to seeing it continue to play a part in meeting Scotland’s Net Zero ambitions.”
BayWa r.e. is a leading, renewable energy project developer with offices in Edinburgh, Milton Keynes and Dublin. In the UK and Ireland, the company has installed 536MW and manages more than 1400 MW of operational solar and wind assets.
Commenting on the significant scale of the task ahead, Andrew Barber, project manager at BayWa r.e. UK added: “We anticipate that the construction of Dalquhandy Wind Farm will require around 250,000 m3 of earthworks, 6,000 m3 of concrete and 60,000 m of cabling. The turbines are due to be delivered mid-2022 and will involve transporting components up to 65 tonnes in weight and 67m long from their port of entry at King George V Docks in Glasgow.”
The wind farm will maximise the use of existing tracks and avoid unnecessary disturbance of the restored site. Included with the development will be a number of habitat management activities that are designed to enhance the ecological value of the site as well as providing an asset for the people who regularly use the tracks for recreation.