Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has acquired a 50 per cent interest in a Scottish onshore wind farm, increasing its level of renewable generation capacity. The Braes of Doune project in Stirlingshire took the UK’s total wind capacity past 2,000MW for the first time when it was fully commissioned today.
Centrica paid £42 million in cash for its share of the wind farm and will also take the entire output of the 72MW development, which will produce enough electricity to power the homes of 46,000 British Gas customers.
The agreement with renewable energy firm Airtricity, which developed the 36-turbine site, makes Braes the third operational wind farm in Centrica’s expanding renewable portfolio. The company expects to become one of the largest investors in offshore wind farms and already has the lowest carbon intensity of any major energy supplier.
It already wholly owns the 26MW Glens of Foudland site in Aberdeenshire and is a 50 per cent partner in the 90MW Barrow Offshore Wind development off the coast of Cumbria.
It is also currently constructing the UK’s largest offshore wind development, the 180MW Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms off the Lincolnshire coast, and has further licences which could enable the construction of over 1GW of additional offshore wind generation.
Jake Ulrich, Managing Director of Centrica Energy, said: “This is another milestone on the journey to supply our British Gas customers with clean and renewable electricity in the years ahead and it will also help to secure the UK’s future energy needs.
“With 2000MW of wind now operational, the UK is firmly establishing the role of renewables as part of a diverse power generation mix.”