Tag: RWE

RWE heads into the new year with major boost to Scottish onshore wind

•   Company will begin construction of its third Scottish onshore wind farm in 12 months as Strathy Wood prepares for build out

•   RWE is developing an ambitious onshore pipeline of 22 projects in Scotland and Wales as a key partner in the delivery of the energy transition

•   A combined 168 megawatts of onshore wind projects, successful in the 2023 Contracts for Difference auctions, are already progressing

Scotland is at the heart of a drive by the UK’s leading power generator RWE to grow its onshore wind portfolio, with three major new projects already under construction.

The 63 megawatts (MW) Strathy Wood project in Caithness, Scotland, will become the latest to begin full construction, with pre-construction work now underway.

The start of work follows the company’s Capital Markets Day commitment to continue the pace of its UK ambition and investment, pledging to invest €8 billion into new clean energy infrastructure including in Scotland, from 2024 to 2030.

Victoria Allen, Head of Onshore Renewables Development Scotland, said: “RWE is entering 2024 strong, with our ambition in Scotland ever growing, and we are delighted to have reached significant construction milestones for Enoch Hill, Camster II and now Strathy Wood.

“Onshore wind has an important role to play in helping deliver the UK and Scottish governments’ net zero emission targets in the coming years and remains the lowest cost form of renewable electricity generation.”

Construction is already underway at Enoch Hill onshore wind project, located in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The project is expected to be operational by 2025, when it will be capable of generating enough electricity for around 67,000* typical UK homes.

At 69 MW, Enoch Hill will be RWE’s largest onshore wind farm to be built in Scotland and will use 15 Nordex wind turbines, with an overall maximum tip height of 149.9m.

Camster II, a 10 turbine site, is also in construction in Caithness and sits alongside RWE’s existing operational onshore wind site, Camster.  The current construction project is due to be completed in 2025 and, once fully operational, will be capable of producing up to 36 MW of renewable electricity, enough to power around 35,000*  typical UK homes.

Engineering contractor Farrans is leading construction for Enoch Hill and Camster II onshore wind projects, and has worked successfully on several other RWE renewable projects across Scotland.

Strathy Wood, a 63 MW plant located in Caithness, and located near existing onshore wind farm Strathy North will begin full onsite construction later this year.  The project will have 11 turbines generating enough electricity to power 68,000 homes and will be completed by 2025.

RWE has a successful history of delivering onshore wind in the UK. It already operates a portfolio of 33 onshore wind sites with a combined installed capacity of 802 MW, and now has a further 168 megawatts MW currently under construction in Scotland. 

In addition, the company has a strong onshore wind development pipeline of 22 projects across Scotland and Wales, 16 will be located in Scotland, and capable of generating a significant 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of renewable electricity.

At its operating onshore wind farms, RWE is committed to supporting its neighbouring communities through flexible community benefits packages. 

The three onshore wind projects which have now entered construction will leverage an investment equal to around a total of £25 million into Scottish communities, based on a 30 year operational lifetime of the projects.

This provides those communities with an opportunity to plan and develop a more sustainable future and achieve some of their bigger and more ambitious ideas.

More broadly and over their entire lifetime, the renewables projects that RWE currently operates in Scotland will contribute an additional total of more than £17 million to Scottish community benefit funds.

RWE and SGN announce green hydrogen partnership for Scotland

Supplying Scottish towns and rural communities with sustainable hydrogen gas will be the focus of a landmark partnership announced today between gas distribution company SGN and renewables generator RWE.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the two companies to investigate the development of electrolysers, powered by RWE’s 10 onshore wind farms in Scotland which have a combined capacity of 213 megawatts, to supply homes and businesses with hydrogen gas via Scotland’s gas network.

Hydrogen has a crucial role to play in achieving net zero and is an essential component to decarbonise sectors like industry, heavy load transport, aviation and heat. Published in April 2022, the UK Government’s Energy Security Strategy doubled its ambition for low carbon hydrogen production capacity to 10GW by 2030. Similarly, the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Action Plan aims to create 5GW of hydrogen by 2030 and 25GW by 2045.

The partnership will investigate the decarbonisation of homes and businesses connected to the networks of Campbeltown, Stornoway, Oban, Thurso and Wick, which are not connected to the mains gas network.

These networks are currently supplied by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), which when swapped with hydrogen could save 21,000 tonnes of carbon each year and decarbonise around 9,500 properties.

The partnership will define how much hydrogen is needed, the requirements to convert these networks to hydrogen, and the supply of green electrolytic hydrogen from RWE’s renewable onshore wind farms nearby. In doing so, the project could also unlock onshore wind farm developments in grid-constrained* areas, by providing a use for the green electricity generated.

A feasibility study will also be conducted over the coming months into a 100-megawatt (MW) electrolyser at RWE’s Markinch CHP biomass plant.

This could produce green hydrogen from local and grid connected renewable energy, to connect into SGN’s gas network in Fife. It would build on the work SGN is already undertaking in Levenmouth on their world-first H100 Fife project.

Steve Boughton, RWE Director Hydrogen Development, said: “This MoU is a perfect partnership to develop options for the decarbonisation of domestic and business gas networks, and to help Government achieve its ambitions for 10GW of hydrogen production.

Hydrogen will play an essential role in the pathway to net zero, particularly in industry and homes which are hard to decarbonise, and RWE is perfectly positioned to support the development of the UK hydrogen economy.”

Fergus Tickell, SGN System Transformation and Business Development Lead, said: “We’re delighted to partner with RWE which shares our belief that hydrogen gas has a leading role in the decarbonisation of homes, businesses and industry in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

“We’ll explore how hydrogen produced locally can be delivered through the world-class networks we’ve been operating for decades, to all of Scotland’s communities, including in Fife, Campbeltown, Stornoway, Oban, Thurso and Wick. We also look forward to investigating more opportunities across the UK.”

The knowledge and experience gained from these initial studies will enable a better understanding of the practicalities and economics of the entire hydrogen cycle and will be an important precursor to a potential funding application under the UK Government’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.

RWE’s £5 million community investment is upskilling lives in rural Scotland

·       RWE marks £5 million donated over 15 years to community funds in Scotland

·       Flexible financial support has benefited a wide range of local people, groups and infrastructure

·       Bad á Cheò Wind Farm education & training fund provides residents with opportunities to upskill and increase employment potential

RWE, one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, has reached the milestone of donating £5 million over 15 years, through its community funds set up at projects it operates in Scotland. The community funds help charities and causes to thrive and supports local communities.

The funds, which are made available in local areas surrounding RWE’s renewable energy projects, are provided directly to local groups and causes to help enhance and improve the services they provide, with projects spanning education and training, sustainability, health and wellbeing support, and community facilities.

This money goes a long way to supporting the sustainable development of the communities in which renewable projects are located. Hundreds of projects and communities have already been supported across Scotland with many other projects ready to be funded across the country.

RWE has a proud history of renewable development and working with local communities in Scotland. Today RWE operates 10 onshore wind farms across Scotland, with 14 more in development and construction, and continues to operate Scotland’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, Robin Rigg.

In total, RWE operates 26 sites in Scotland with many employees living locally. In addition to Community Funds, RWE is committed to offering community shared ownership at many of the projects in development.

The funding process is flexible and easily accessible, with decisions about funding allocations made by a panel of local representatives who know their communities best.

A number of examples of positive, grass roots projects funded by RWE’s Community Funds, including causes such as:

1 – Education and training fund supported by Bad á Cheò Onshore Wind Farm

Bad á Cheò Onshore Wind Farm Education and Training fund is open to residents living closest to the wind farm and provides bursaries to local people to access training and education opportunities that better equip them with the range of skills required to enter into, or retain, employment in key sectors. To date it has awarded nearly £50,000.

Taking advantage of the fund, the first two beneficiaries, Zoe Farquhar and Louise Todd, both undertook courses that increased their ability to generate more income and work for themselves.

Zoe Farquharson undertook an Introduction to Kiltmaking course, to enable her to meet a demand locally for handmade kilts by participants in Highland Dance Schools as well as sympathetic repairs to older garments. Louise Todd formalised her accountancy skills by taking a professional bookkeeping course that enabled her to increase the services her business could offer.

Thirty-five local people have received funding towards courses as diverse as childcare, sign language, deer stalking, welding inspection, accountancy and kilt making, or to assist them with costs whilst completing university education.

2 – Helping communities on their journey to net zero by supporting community energy projects

The An Suidhe Onshore Wind Farm Community Fund provided an investment in equity (share ownership) towards the River Avich Community Hydro Scheme. Providing financial support to the project while enabling a return of 4% back to the An Suidhe Wind Farm Community Fund.

This was the first investment in a community-owned renewable project from a community benefit fund in Scotland and an exciting example of how an area can achieve its renewable energy ambitions whilst continuously reinvesting in local initiatives.

Community Benefit UK

Katy Woodington, Community Investment Manager UK & Ireland, said: “This is an important milestone, which represents the significant difference that renewable energy can make to people’s day to day lives as well as the planet.

“Funds are set up with decisions made by local people, so it is great to see them making the most of these flexible funds to support innovative projects, push boundaries and help realise their ambitions.”

There are additional long standing community and societal benefits that have been provided as a result of RWE’s green developments including a significant boost to local and regional supply chains, and supporting the development of high skilled, well-paid jobs and training programmes.

To date, RWE, which directly employs around 100 people in Scotland, has invested over £180 million in the country and recently confirmed its participation in the ScotWind seabed leasing round process, as we look to expand our global offshore wind portfolio.

RWE is the third largest renewable generator in the UK with the largest renewable project pipeline including the construction of the 1.4 GW Sofia and 857 MW Triton Knoll offshore wind farms. RWE is also progressing four extension projects in the UK, with a combined potential installed capacity of around 2.6 GW (RWE’s pro rata share: 1.3 GW.)

Furthermore, we successfully bid for two new adjacent offshore sites on Dogger Bank, developing some of the world’s most advanced offshore wind farms, in support of government net zero ambitions.

To find out more about RWE’s Community Funds, and the local projects and causes that they help to support, visit our Community finding in action page.