Scotland's historic Hagshaw Hill wind farm, the country's first commercial wind farm, has been powered down in preparation for repowering. The wind farm, located in Douglas, South Lanarkshire, opened in 1995 and has generated over 895 mega watt hours (MWh) of electricity during its 28-year lifespan. The decommissioning process will involve installing 14 new wind turbines with a combined capacity of 79 MW, enabling the wind farm to produce five times the amount of clean energy with just half the number of turbines.

Repowering the wind farm will not only maximize its power output but also contribute to Scotland's net-zero ambitions. Barry Carruthers, Onshore Managing Director at ScottishPower Renewables, highlights the significance of repowering in achieving sustainability goals. He emphasizes that the company understands the potential of these sites and aims to generate green, zero-carbon electricity efficiently. Once repowered, Hagshaw Hill will have the capacity to provide electricity to nearly 61,000 homes annually, equivalent to almost half the homes in South Lanarkshire.

The project is expected to maintain more than 100 jobs and create additional opportunities in the supply chain during the decommissioning process. Disassembling the existing turbines and preparing the land for the installation of the new turbines is currently underway. Carruthers emphasizes the importance of faster repowering processes to accelerate progress towards net-zero targets, allowing existing wind farm sites to deliver greater contributions to the UK's renewable energy generation.