Scottish Power plans to repower and double capacity of the UK’s flagship onshore windfarm, Whitelee, in a £1.5bn project that will boost the country’s energy security while creating hundreds of jobs and £500m in supply chain opportunities.
Plans announced by ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) could mean Whitelee generating enough energy to power the equivalent of 650,000 homes, 300,000 more than currently, helping keep bills down long-term.
Over the ten years of development and construction, it is estimated the project will generate £330m of Gross Value Added (GVA) for the Scottish economy.
In a landmark development for the energy sector, ScottishPower Renewables is committing to ensuring the community is involved in the project through ownership opportunities and an enlarged community benefit fund
Whitelee has contributed £20million so far to East Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire Councils via community benefit, and the new plans will mean increased financial benefit – anticipated to be no less than £5million every year.
Our record £24bn investment plan to 2028 is supporting record supply chain spend - over £1bn in the first half of 2026 alone - with 76% in companies located in the UK.
Alongside UK contract opportunities, a multi-ports strategy for delivery of turbines and other components will mean further economic benefit Scotland-wide.
As well as the £1.5bn investment to expand and repower the windfarm, further there will also be continued investment over 40 years for the operation and maintenance of the site. Just yesterday ScottishPower Renewables announced UK company contract wins of over £100m to service existing onshore fleet.
Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables Chief Executive, said: 'Whitelee is one of the largest windfarms in Europe and the jewel in the UK’s renewables crown, powering Greater Glasgow and beyond with clean, green power for almost two decades.
'We want to build on the existing success of our windfarms before they reach the end of their natural lifespan, and we lose the benefit of their clean power capacity
'Whitelee will set the repowering standard, unlocking the continued potential of existing infrastructure. It also means re-benefitting communities with direct financial benefit as well as a groundbreaking opportunity for partial community ownership.'
He added: 'At this critical moment in the push for home-grown clean, green energy, it’s important we don’t go in reverse and lose the clean capacity that’s been hard earned over the last two decades as it comes to the end of its operational life.
'Retaining and increasing the output from Whitelee is good news for the UK and Scotland, good news for jobs and good news for the community and economy.'
The repowering proposals will see fewer but more modern, larger powered turbines across the site, with a reduction to 124 turbines around 250m in height, taking capacity from 539 MW to 1 GW.
Whitelee has become a national treasure and hugely popular with the public. The habitat restoration and accessibility put in place when first built meant the former, mostly wild, moorland has become a beloved community asset for local dog-walkers, runners and nature lovers, as well as being a favoured educational trip destination for schools throughout Scotland.
The repowering work will be carried out in three phases to ensure that access is maintained for the public throughout and there will be improvements to its visitor centre, which has welcomed over 1 million visitors through its doors since opening.
Whitelee was originally commissioned in 2008 and consisted of 140 turbines when it opened to the public in 2009. Since then, the windfarm has undergone two phases of extensions with the phase 1 extension adding 36 turbines to the development and phase 2 adding a further 39, taking the total to 215.
The scale and length of time covered by the development and construction phase will give the supply chain the confidence to invest in new equipment and jobs, delivering a more resilient UK supply chain.
ScottishPower Renewables has been working closely with landowners, including Forestry Land Scotland and Scottish Water, to secure the future of the site for generations to come.
The site currently covers an area of approximately 83km2 and straddles East Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire council areas. The plans include a new substation in the East Renfrewshire section of the site.
The plans have now been lodged with the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit and will be published online this week.
A planning application is set to be submitted in December 2027, with the repowering planned to be operational by 2035.
Source: Scottish Power
