Scottish Power to make £1.5 billion upgrade to Britain’s largest onshore wind farm

Iberdrola

22/07/2026 11:18

Whitelee's 215 turbines will be replaced by 124 larger models
Upgrade would almost double Whitelee's capacity to around 1 GW
Project expected to produce enough electricity to power 650,000 homes
By Susanna Twidale

    LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Iberdrola-owned IBE.MC Scottish Power is investing £1.5 billion ($2.01 billion) to upgrade old turbines at the Whitelee Windfarm in Scotland, a move that will almost double capacity at Britain's largest onshore windfarm, it said on Wednesday.
Britain plans to rapidly increase its renewable power capacity to help meet climate targets, boost energy security and reduce the country’s reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Under the repowering plan, the 215 existing turbines at Whitelee will be replaced with 124 larger turbines that will almost double the project's capacity to around 1 gigawatt, enough electricity to power around 650,000 homes.
"We will repower it in sections over that period of time, and that means we still get the best out of the existing site as we start building the new site," Scottish Power CEO Keith Anderson said in an interview.
Anderson said the project would start around 2030 and be complete by around 2035.
Wind turbines are typically designed to operate for around 20 to 25 years, and many older projects are coming to the end of their lifespan.
     
MORE HELP NEEDED ON ENERGY DEBT
As well as owning generation and network assets, Scottish Power is one of Britain’s largest energy suppliers.
Anderson welcomed the move by Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Monday to remove VAT from domestic electricity bills to help consumers with a cost of living squeeze, but said more will need to be done to help reduce soaring energy debts.
"We need to take away some of that old debt burden because people clearly just can't afford to pay it," Anderson said. "Put it into a fund, securitise the fund, and have that fund repaid over 10-15 years."
Industry group Energy UK predicts household energy debt could hit £7 billion by the end of the year.
Anderson was speaking after parent company Iberdrola announced a 22% rise in first-half net profits to €4.34 billion ($4.95 billion).
($1 = 0.7479 pounds)

 (Reporting by Susanna Twidale; Editing by Jan Harvey)
 ((susanna.twidale@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 5424753;))