Europe's biggest onshore wind farm, capable of powering 320,000 homes, was given approval by the Scottish government yesterday. It will be built on the hills of South Lanarkshire, straddling the M74 Glasgow-Carlisle motorway.

The 152-turbine development is said to make it “virtually certain” that Scotland will meet its target of generating 31 per cent of the country's energy from renewables by 2011 and 50 per cent by 2020.

Alex Salmond, the First Minister, said that the Clyde wind farm was a big step towards making Scotland the “green capital” of Europe.

The project is expected to bring £600 million investment and create about 200 jobs during construction.

Mr Salmond said: “The Clyde wind farm will represent a very important step in the development of renewable energy in Scotland and in meeting shared European targets.”

The announcement came on the day that Malcolm Wicks, the British Energy Minister, declared that expansion in offshore wind power in the North Sea could generate 30,000 jobs and attract £3 billion in investment.

The EU wants 20 per cent of all energy consumption to come from renewable sources in 2020.

The SNP administration, which was criticised when it rejected controversial plans for a large wind farm on Lewis earlier in the year, said the scheme was a significant step away from reliance on nuclear energy.

Mr Salmond, speaking before the World Renewable Energy Congress in Glasgow, said: “Scotland has a clear, competitive advantage in developing clean, green energy sources such as wind, wave and tidal power. Installed renewables capacity is already greater than nuclear capacity. This announcement demonstrates that we are only at the start of the renewables revolution in Scotland.”

The gigantic new wind farm, to be built in clusters of turbines near the M74 close to Abington, will have a total capacity of 548 megawatts. The largest wind farm in Scotland at present is the 322MW development under construction on Eaglesham Moor, south of Glasgow. The largest operational wind farm in Europe is the Maranchon development in Guadalajara, Spain, which has a generating capacity of 208MW.

In tandem with the new wind farm, the infrastructure necessary to transmit the energy it creates is being upgraded. ScottishPower announced yesterday the completion of a £84 million project for two new 400kV primary sub stations in South Lanarkshire, one of which, at Elvanfoot, will serve the new wind farm.

The company said that the new installations were vital as part of a wider network programme to increase Scottish electricity export capacity from 2200MW to 2800MW by 2010.

There are 36 renewable project applications being processed by the Government, 26 wind farm, nine hydro and one wave project, which add up to 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of electricity.

At present the installed renewables capacity in Scotland totals 2800MW, against 2090MW from installed nuclear capacity. Approval of the Clyde wind farm means that the total installed capacity either built or consented and under construction will be 4.55GW. Scottish and Southern Energy, the company behind the wind farm, said construction would start in 2010 and end in 2011.

Ian Marchant, the company's chief executive, said: “Projects like Clyde are essential if Scotland and the UK are to have any hope of meeting legally binding EU targets for renewable energy.”

WWF Scotland, the environmental group, welcomed the wind farm announcement but called for strong legislation to cut pollution in a proposed Scottish Climate Change Bill.

Richard Dixon, WWF Scotland's director, said: “If Scotland is to achieve the 80 per cent cuts in emissions by 2050, which the Government is aspiring to, the Bill will need to include statutory reduction targets of at least

3 per cent year-on-year and cover pollution from aviation and shipping.

“The Clyde wind farm is a good proposal because it is close to major centres of population, who will use the power it generates, and away from Scotland's most valuable landscapes.”

Last Friday the Government announced a new biomass plant at Markinch, Fife, which will generate

45MW of power.

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