Barrhill Primary School pupil Christopher Russell, aged 10, stole the show at the official opening of ScottishPower Renewables’ Kilgallioch Windfarm - after his drawing won a competition to feature on a commemorative mug designed especially for the opening ceremony.

Kilgallioch consists of 96 turbines, with a capacity of 239 megawatts (MW), which will be capable of supplying enough electricity to meet the annual demands of more than 140,000 homes. The project is located between Barrhill, South Ayrshire, and New Luce, Dumfries and Galloway.

Stuart Mason, Onshore Construction Director (right) and Gary Parker, Principal Project Manager (left) with Christopher Russell, aged 10, Barrhill Primary School  –  winner of the art competition.

Over 2,000 workers and support staff were inducted on the windfarm over a two and a half-year period, with a peak monthly workforce of over 225 personnel. The community benefit agreement will see local communities receive £30,000,000 over the next 25 years.

Kilgallioch is the final project in a two-year £650 million investment plan by ScottishPower Renewables to construct 8 new onshore windfarms in Scotland, which will deliver nearly 500 MW of new renewable electricity for the national grid.

Stuart Mason, Onshore Construction Director for ScottishPower Renewables, said: “It was great to welcome Christopher on to the Kilgallioch site so he could see how the windfarm compares in real life to his brilliant picture.

“Kilgallioch will make a significant contribution to Scotland’s renewable energy targets and it is a welcome new addition to our family of 40 projects across the UK.  Beyond generating green electricity for homes and businesses, Kilgallioch will also invest tens of millions of pounds to support local initiatives over the next 25 years, and we hope that many people from the communities near to the windfarm will benefit from this funding.

"Beyond our current investment programme, we plan to continue scoping and developing new sites, as we believe that onshore wind remains a critical component of any future energy mix. It’s now cheaper, easier and faster to build onshore wind, and more projects will be needed to ensure the UK has enough green electricity to power a clean energy future.”