County Durham firm lands deal to build “Scotland’s tallest onshore wind farm”

A County Durham-headquartered renewable energy specialist has landed a multi-million pound deal to create Scotland’s “tallest onshore wind farm”.

Banks Renewables has secured approval from the Scottish government for the Lethans wind farm in East Ayrshire.

The project, which will entail 22 turbines with a maximum tip height of 220m, will have a maximum output of 132 MW to meet the annual energy needs of around 79,000 homes.

County Durham-headquartered Banks Renewables currently has a total of ten operational onshore wind farms across northern England and Scotland, with this latest project supporting the firm’s expansion plans.

Robin Winstanley, sustainability and external affairs manager at Banks Renewables, says: “This has taken many years of hard work, planning and close consultation with the local community and it is a major milestone to see it over the line.

“As well as being a meaningful advance in Scotland’s green energy agenda, approval for Lethans will also deliver real, deep and long-lasting benefits to the local people, the environment and to the economy of East Ayrshire.

“Onshore wind is acknowledged as the most popular and cost-effective means of renewable energy generation and we’re very pleased to be adding even more capacity to our wind farm portfolio.”