Scottish Energy Minister opens EDF Energy Renewables’ Fallago Rig Wind Farm
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing and the Duke of Roxburghe joined the developers and other invited guests on 22 July 2013 to officially open the Fallago Rig wind farm in Berwickshire.
The wind farm located in the in the Lammermuir hills, was built and is operated by EDF Energy Renewables. The site which, started generating in March and was commissioned in May, is one of the largest onshore wind farms to be built in the United Kingdom.
The 48 turbine site has an installed capacity of 144MW and the windfarm’s annual output will be equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 90,000 homes.
The project was developed with sustainability as a key criteria and saw the project team maximising the natural resources available at the site. This included using rock from newly created quarries for constructing the 36km of site roads and manufacturing aggregate for the project’s concrete requirements. This had the additional effect of greatly reducing the number of vehicle movements through local towns and villages as well as saving time and considerable costs on fuel and logistics.
The local community also benefited from the project which saw £3 million directly invested in the local economy and over 350 jobs were created in Scotland during the construction phase of the project.
Going forward Fallago Rig Windfarm and the Roxburghe Estate will pay £240,000 per annum, for the life of the project, in to the local community fund to help enhance the quality of life for local communities and visitors to the borders. The fund is being managed by the Tweed Forum.
Commenting on the project Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said:
“Scotland has a natural renewable energy resource, which is unrivalled in Europe and has attracted £2.8 billion of investment in Scotland since 2009.
“The Fallago Rig wind farm has the potential to provide over tens of thousands of households with clean green energy. This 144 MW capacity site will move us closer to achieving our ambition to generate the equivalent of 100 per cent of our annual electricity demand from renewables by 2020.
“This Government is determined to reap the economic, environmental and social benefits of a decisive shift towards sustainable sources of energy. This wind farm will provide community benefits of £240,000 for each year it is operational.
“It is clear to see the huge benefits that wind farms, and the renewable energy sector more broadly, are bringing to communities across Scotland. As well as providing jobs and employment opportunities for our people and environment, they provide a positive boost to our economy.”
EDF Energy Chief Executive Vincent de Rivaz said:
“I was delighted to welcome the Minister and the Duke of Roxburghe to what is EDF Energy Renewables’ greatest achievement to date – and its largest onshore project to date.
“The completion of Fallago Rig demonstrates how EDF Group companies can deliver major infrastructure projects on time and on budget. What lies at the heart of this is our people and my congratulations go out to the team that made this project possible.
“EDF Energy is at the heart of UK plans for delivering low carbon generation, including nuclear new build, onshore and offshore wind.”
Christian Egal, CEO EDF Energy Renewables said:
“I am extremely proud of all those involved and would like to thank them for making this project a reality. To complete a project of this size, on time and on budget, and with such strong relationships built in the local area, I think it demonstrates EDF Energy Renewables expertise and leadership.”
“We have ambitious plans for the future to support the UK in reaching its renewable energy targets. Fallago Rig demonstrates that ambition and our ability to deliver.”
EDF Energy Renewables already has over 400 MW of onshore wind energy in operation and the capacity the company installed since the beginning of 2013 alone is 162 MW, showing the acceleration in pace of EDF Group’s expansion in renewables activities in the United Kingdom.
Last month the company announced the completion of construction of its 62 MW offshore windfarm at Teesside near Redcar – EDF Energy Renewables’ first offshore windfarm.
The company is also currently involved in the development of a proposed offshore wind farm, Navitus Bay, near the Isle of Wight, in a joint venture project with Eneco.
All of EDF Energy’s generation assets in Scotland are low carbon. The company employs around 1200 people in Scotland across its sites and contributes around £100m per year to the Scottish economy in staff wages alone. Over the next 18 months more than 10 permanent roles will be created to support our renewables assets in Scotland.
ENDS
For more information please contact Jonathan Levy in the EDF Energy press office on 0203 2196803 / jonathan.levy@edfenergy.com
