Iberdrola Acquires 2 Wind Projects in Scotland for €190 Mn

Iberdrola has purchased two onshore wind projects in Scotland, with a combined 165 MW capacity and which will involve an investment of around €190 million

Spanish multinational electric utility Iberdrola has announced that it has finalised the purchase of two onshore wind projects in Scotland, with a combined 165-megawatt (MW) capacity and which will involve an investment of around 190 million euros, from individual local shareholders 3R Energy and Mitchell Energy. The two renewable developments acquired by the firm are located in South Lanarkshire, about 20 miles south of Glasgow.

One of these is a project involving the construction of a 100-MW wind farm: 20 turbines with 5 MW capacity each and a maximum height of 200 metres. In the other, the company will be able to upgrade the first non-experimental wind farm developed in Scotland, some 25 years ago: Hagshaw Hill. The upgrade will increase the facility’s operating capacity from 42 MW to 65 MW.

Thanks to this transaction, Iberdrola’s subsidiary in the United Kingdom, ScottishPower, will be able to develop its third-largest wind farm in the country, which will have a capacity of 220 MW, given that the 165 MW now acquired will be augmented with 55 MW from another nearby park that it was already developing and that is now being reactivated. This complex, which will require an overall investment of about 250 million euros, will be able to supply green energy to almost 135,000 households.

The company led by Ignacio Galán, which will make a record investment of 10 billion euros this year to boost the green recovery, is thus undertaking its third corporate operation since the start of the health crisis. In the wake of this purchase, Galán noted that “as we overcome the coronavirus crisis, investment in clean infrastructure, which creates jobs and whose delivery times are short, offers immediate economic and environmental benefits, which will support the UK’s recovery at this critical time.”

The firms’ new onshore wind farm will be the third-largest in the United Kingdom, behind those already operating in Whitelee (539 MW) and Kilgallioch (239 MW). 

Last week, the firm had announced the acquisition of the French renewable energy company Aalto Power, which is owned by Aiolos and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, for 100 million euros. “In fact, the purchase of Aalto Power will not only bring Iberdrola its first operating megawatts on French soil, but it will also bolster its plans in the area of renewable generation, thanks to the company’s projects, its team of professionals and its experience in the development of this type of infrastructure,” the firm had issued in a press statement.