The first ever Onshore Wind Week in the UK has just come to a close, with events held across the country over the past seven days. The renewable energy industry joined forces with workers, families and even frozen food retailers, to make the case for the future of our sector. It kicked off with 5,000 people visiting Whitelee Wind Farm, East Renfrewshire, last Sunday for a family fun day, and included visits to Westminster and Holyrood where MPs and MSPs could hear from some of the tens of thousands of people working in the industry. In an unexpected but welcome intervention, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream also threw its weight behind onshore wind. As part of a sustainability campaign it launched tubs of Strawberry Breeze-cake and Cherry Gale-cia – among others – as it joined efforts to encourage the UK government to rethink their opposition to onshore wind. Underpinning all the ac tivities last week was a new report, which set out the major economic benefits that onshore wind can deliver. On the day it was published, separate economic figures showed that foreign investments in Scotland increased by 7 per cent last year, outstripping most other parts of the UK. This was welcome news, and it is happening because Scotland is a great place to invest. Scotland has good infrastructure, a highly skilled workforce and a wealth of innovative businesses delivering pioneering work. We know this, because we have been investing in Scotland. In the past two years ScottishPower Renewables invested £650 million to build eight new onshore wind projects, all in Scotland. Total lifetime investment for these projects will be £1.6 billion.
Scotland on Sunday 17th June 2018 read more »