Major Scottish wind farm hits key milestone with first turbine foundations installed

A milestone has been reached at one of Scotland’s largest wind farm projects with the installation of the first turbine foundations.

The progress puts Vattenfall’s 50-turbine South Kyle wind farm, located near Dalmellington, on track for completion in early 2023.

Glasgow-based contractor RJ McLeod, which won a £67 million contract to build the wind farm, reached the foundation installation stage a year after preparatory works got under way at the site.

Each foundation requires around 520 cubic metres of concrete, 60 tonnes of steel, and six metres of compacted stone. They will support wind turbines that stand 149.5 metres high with a 4.8 megawatt capacity, enough to power an average UK home for around 15 hours with just one rotation of the blades.

The first foundations have been laid after a year of preparation work at the Dalmellington site. Picture: contributed.

In the past 12 months, in excess of half a million hours have been worked on site, with more than 60 per cent of the workforce living within the Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway area.

Frank Elsworth, Vattenfall’s head of market development for UK onshore, said: "Laying the first foundations is a really exciting step forward in the construction of South Kyle Wind Farm, and reflects the excellent progress being made by the construction team over the past year.

"There are hundreds of people working on the site every day, with the majority coming from the local region. There are also more and more local businesses joining our supply chain, highlighting the benefits onshore wind farms can bring to the Scottish economy as we make the transition to net zero."

The wind farm will generate enough electricity to meet the demand of approximately 170,000 UK homes.

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