Brookfield Renewable has appointed North Wales civil engineering firm Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK to deliver a new 19 turbine wind farm in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Kennoxhead Phase 1 is a 60 megawatt development near the village of Glespin that will contribute to carbon reduction targets with a supply of low costs sustainable energy.

Knoxhead, an overview
 

The new subsidy-free development will be located south of the A70 near the historic Douglas Estate which has embraced the move away from fossil fuels since the closure of the Glentaggart coal mine in 2011. 

The wind farm is central to Brookfields development pipeline and already has planning permission in place for a 19 turbine wind farm. A further two expansions are in the planning stage taking the projected number of turbines to 35 with a total anticipated output of 172MW.

The project is currently undergoing an online public consultation due to Covid-19 restrictions. Site clearance and preparation works are currently underway and the appointment of Jones Bros will see the project move ahead into the design and construction of wind turbine foundations and a substation building.

The civil engineering firm will also be responsible for a 24m bridge and approximately 25km of cabling trenches.

Experts in sustainable energy
 

This will be Jones Bros 18th wind farm in Scotland and they've constructed countless others across the UK, building strong expertise in the sector. That made them a natural choice for the Knoxhead project. 

In addition the foundations and substation Jones Bros will be responsible for upgrading 14km of existing tracks and constructing 9km of new ones, as well as providing temporary site buildings and other facilities. 

Jones Bros has already added another six plant operatives to its 30 strong Scottish team. They expect to add to this number over the coming months and already employ more than 500 people from their head office in Ruthin. 

Garod Evans, contracts director at Jones Bros, said the firm were delighted to have been selected by Brookfield Renewable and were looking forward to the challenges of being onsite during the Scottish winter. However, they're confident of meeting the tight schedule with turbine deliveries due to begin next August.

Jones Bros will be aiming to support the local community and boost the local economy wherever possible. This includes hiring a local security firm and a local building contractor and aggregate supplier to deliver projects including the substation.

Strengthening wind power infrastructure
 

Wind power is central to the government's build back greener initiative and delivering on carbon neutral targets. Currently the UK's infrastructure is capable of powering around 13m homes across the country with low cost renewable energy.

Renewable energy made up nearly half the UK's electricity generation in the first quarter of 2020, with government plans to strengthen cabling and transmission infrastructure for a slew of new wind farms coming onstream in the next decade.

Wind is currently powering the energy transition in the UK from fossil fuels to green electricity with the government investing £160m in the next generation of wind turbines.