Vattenfall plans five more wind farms in Scotland

The fifth biggest energy group in Europe, Vattenfall, is planning to build a further five wind farms in Scotland in the following three years as part of its strategic plan to become climate neutral by 2050. The details of the wind farm project emerged as First Minister Alex Salmond prepares to open the company’s Edinburgh office on Wednesday.

To reach Vattenfall’s target, the Swedish company’s strategy includes using a mixture of renewable energy from wave and wind sources, along with nuclear and gas-fuelled power stations that utilize Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology. Last year, the world’s first pilot CCS project was opened in Germany, where Vattenfall also played a major role.

Project plans for the five Scottish wind farms are still subject to planning authorization, but the Swedish group is forecasting to produce nearly 192MW of electricity from the wind farms, enough to power about 100,000 households.

Edinbane, the group’s first wind farm project in Scotland, is already generating electricity since last week. Located on the Isle of Skye, the wind farm has 13 turbines, with a further five due to be added in 2010.

Last week, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs also awarded both Vattenfall and Aberdeen Renewable Energy a £40 million funding to build a wind deployment centre off the coast of Granite. Elsewhere in the UK, Vattenfall is now running the Kentish Flats wind farm which generates 90MW.

In addition, the energy company is taking part to develop the world’s largest offshore wind farm at Thanet off the coast of Kent. Thanet is forecasted to generate 300MW, while an additional 150MW will be produced by the Ormonde wind farm project off Barrow in Furness.