Britain's largest onshore windfarm to erect giant 800ft turbines - taller than London's Canary Wharf

Britain’s biggest onshore windfarm will be “re-powered” with giant turbines taller than London’s Canary Wharf.

Scottish Power has announced plans to double the generating capacity at the Whitelee windfarm in East Renfrewshire.

This would involve replacing the existing turbines with a smaller number of turbines which stand considerably taller.

Under the plans, the current count of 214 turbines could be reduced to 124, taking its installed capacity from 533MW to over 1GW – making it one of the largest in Europe. Its new capacity could power 650,000 homes.

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The current generation of turbines, which measure up to 450 feet tall at blade tip, are reaching the end of their lifespan.

The new ones could reach above 800 feet at blade tip height.

One Canada Square, the tallest tower in Canary Wharf and the UK’s third tallest building, stands at 771 feet.

Scottish Power’s chief executive Keith Anderson said repowering the site was “critical” for its future.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme: “Whitelee is an iconic wind farm, it’s the biggest one in the UK and it’s a huge attraction.”

Asked about the size of the new turbines, he said: “They will be bigger and taller, but you need to put that in context of the landscape.

“It’s a huge open area which was covered with commercial forestry, a lot of which we’ve taken away.

“We’ve turned the environment back to actually more of its natural state.”

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He continued: “If we increase the size of the site and the output of the site, then we generate more renewable power for the country, which is a brilliant thing.”

Whitelee windfarm, on Eaglesham Moor, has been open to the public since it was opened in 2008.

At 32 square miles, it is almost half the size of neighbouring Glasgow.

Scottish Power says the proposals would take place in three phases to maintain access to the visitor centre.

An application has been made to the Scottish Government's energy consents unit.

A full planning application is expected to be submitted by the end of next year.

It is anticipated that the upgrade, costing £1.5billion, will be fully operational by 2035.

Scottish Power Renewables chief executive, Charlie Jordan, said: “At this critical moment in the push for home-grown clean, green energy, it's important we don't go in reverse and lose the clean capacity that's been hard-earned over the last two decades as it comes to the end of its operational life.”

He added: “Whitelee is one of the largest onshore windfarms in Europe and the jewel in the UK’s renewables crown, powering Greater Glasgow and beyond with clean, green power for almost two decades.”

The announcement came as the energy giant revealed that recent investment in infrastructure helped drive a jump in profits over the past half year.

Scottish Power said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose by 17 per cent to £1.7billion in the first six months of 2026, compared with a year earlier.

Nevertheless, Scottish Power also reported that underlying profits from its retail business decreased due to a fall in margins, lower energy use and rising policy costs linked to “energy efficiency schemes”.

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