Scotland’s first commercial wind farm has reached a major milestone in dealing with turbine waste after almost three decades of operation.
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farm → reach → operation
Hagshaw Hill in South Lanarkshire, which began operating in 1995, was decommissioned and repowered with 14 newer turbines after its original 26 turbines were dismantled in 2023.
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turbines → begin → 2023
A Mott MacDonald assessment commissioned by ScottishPower Renewables found that 79.5% of materials from the old turbines and associated components were recycled, while another 20.4% were reused, giving a combined recovery rate of 99.9%.
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% → commission → %
The project also found a new use for one of the wind industry's more difficult waste streams, with all the old turbine blades processed by Northern Ireland-based Plaswire into polymer materials for construction and engineering applications.
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blades → find → applications
Scotland’s first commercial wind farm gets a new life
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farm → get → life
Hagshaw Hill began generating electricity in 1995 and became Scotland’s first commercial wind farm.
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Hill → begin → 1995
Located in South Lanarkshire, the site operated for almost 30 years before its original turbines were dismantled in 2023 as part of a repowering project.
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turbines → locate → project
The old installation had 26 turbines, while the replacement project uses 14 much larger and more powerful machines.
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project → have → machines
The Scottish Government approved 14 turbines with a maximum tip height of 200 metres and a maximum generating capacity of 84MW.
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Government → approve → 84MW
ScottishPower says the repowered project provides more than 79MW of capacity.
99.9% of old materials were recycled or reused
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% → say → materials
The Mott MacDonald assessment commissioned by ScottishPower Renewables found that 79.5% of materials from the decommissioned turbines were recycled and 20.4% were reused.
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% → commission → turbines
Together, the figures represent a 99.9% recycling and reuse rate.
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figures → represent → rate
Reused components include equipment that has been retained for industry training as the wind sector prepares for more turbine decommissioning and repowering projects.
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sector → reuse → projects
The project also relied heavily on local businesses.
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project → rely → businesses
ScottishPower says the majority of the recycling and reuse supply chain was located within 30 miles of Hagshaw Hill.
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majority → say → Hill
At least 10 supply-chain companies in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK received contracts connected with the decommissioning work.
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companies → receive → work
Old turbine blades became construction polymers
One of the most notable parts of the project was the treatment of the turbine blades.
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One → become → blades
Unlike metals such as steel, composite blades can be difficult to recycle because they contain layers of materials bonded together.
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they → recycle → materials
At Hagshaw Hill, all the blades from the original turbines were recycled by Northern Ireland-based Plaswire.
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blades → recycle → Plaswire
The company processed the blade material into its RX Polymer, which can be used in construction and engineering applications.
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which → process → applications
The recycled material can replace products made from virgin plastics, timber and precast concrete.
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material → recycle → plastics
Potential applications include site fencing, marker posts, drainage components and other construction products.
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applications → include → fencing
Plaswire's process involves processing composite blade material into smaller pieces before incorporating it into the recycled polymer.
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process → involve → polymer
This gives the old blades a second industrial use instead of sending them for disposal.
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This → give → disposal
26 turbines replaced by 14 larger machines
The Hagshaw Hill repowering project significantly increased the amount of electricity the site can generate.
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site → replace → electricity
The original 26 turbines had a combined capacity of about 15.6MW.
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turbines → have → 15.6MW
The new development has 14 turbines and more than 79MW of generating capacity, meaning the site's capacity has increased roughly fivefold while the number of turbines has almost halved.
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number → have → turbines
ScottishPower says the repowered wind farm can generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of around 57,000 homes.
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farm → say → homes
The approved development also includes provision for around 20MW of battery energy storage.
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development → approve → storage
The repowering means the established wind-farm site can continue generating renewable electricity with newer, more efficient technology rather than relying on the original turbines installed in the 1990s.
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site → mean → 1990s
A blueprint for future wind-farm repowering
Hagshaw Hill's transformation comes as older wind farms around Scotland and the wider UK approach the end of their original operating lives.
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farms → come → lives
The project demonstrates how decommissioning and repowering can be combined with large-scale material recovery.
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decommissioning → demonstrate → recovery
ScottishPower says around 1GW of its turbines are expected to come down over the next decade, creating a growing need for recycling and reuse solutions for components such as steel, electrical equipment and composite blades.
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1GW → say → steel
Hagshaw Hill provides an example of how these materials can be redirected into new uses while newer turbines increase renewable-energy generation.
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turbines → provide → generation
The project has also brought greater benefits to nearby communities.
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project → bring → communities
ScottishPower says the repowered wind farm will provide nearly £400,000 a year through its community benefit fund to communities including Coalburn, Douglas, Lesmahagow and Rigside & Douglas Water.
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farm → say → Coalburn
The fund is around 26 times larger than the one associated with the original wind farm.
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fund → associate → farm
Hagshaw Hill has therefore gone from Scotland's first commercial wind farm to an example of how an ageing renewable-energy site can be given a second life, with fewer and more powerful turbines producing substantially more electricity while almost all material from the old installation is recycled or reused.
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material → go → installation
