IMPORTANT site investigations to enable the creation of a new and highly-efficient wind farm close to the border of East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire have now been completed.
Mill Rig Wind Farm is set to see six turbines come into operation in Spring 2026 with developers OnPath Energy (formerly Banks Renewables) announcing that site investigations ongoing since May have now come to a close.
Construction is anticipated to begin in March 2025 and the South Lanarkshire wind farm is expected to start exporting renewable electricity to the national grid one year later.
Mill Rig will have the capacity to generate up to 132GWh of renewable electricity annually, enough to power over 45,000 homes.
The project will deliver significant social, environmental and economic benefits including a community benefit fund of up to £167,000 per year and around £91m investment in the local economy.
Gordon Thomson, projects director for OnPath Energy said: “We have been carrying out a wide range of tests and surveys on the Mill Rig site since May and are pleased with the results from this.
“Once operational, Mill Rig is a site that will deliver 30 years’ worth of clean energy to homes across the country as well as Delivering significant benefits for local communities for many years.
“While we are still to confirm a grid connection date, we expect the site to be fully operational in 2026.”
Mill Rig will be built using modern onshore turbines which will be amongst the UK’s most efficient, with the £155m project displacing approximately 27,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the UK’s electricity supply grid, equivalent to around 16,000 petrol cars from the road.
Located near Darvel, East Ayrshire the site was given the green light by South Lanarkshire Council in 2022 and will feature some of the UK’s most efficient onshore wind turbines.
Sam Fisher, Senior Geotechnical Engineer, Natural Power said: “Natural Power was delighted to deliver the site investigation works at Mill Rig near Darvel.
“As a local supplier, headquartered less than 50 miles from the site, we are very familiar with the challenging ground conditions and access issues the site faces.
“We have specialist drilling rigs for accessing these soft ground and forestry environments and a deep understanding of how the ground conditions encountered will impact the construction phase of the project.
“We have been fortunate to work with OnPath for several years now and are proud to support them in their vision to power a more sustainable future through renewable energy”
The local economy stands to gain significantly from wind farm investment during development, construction and operation, with a projected local spend of over £91 Million (around 60%) over the project lifetime.
This estimate is based on the average projected spend figures between three OnPath wind farms, with independent consultant Biggar Economics calculating the economic impact of OnPath’s wind farm developments.
The local authority will also benefit from tax revenue generated by Mill Rig, with an anticipated £18 million in business rates contributing to public funds.
Additionally, the development will directly support around 300 jobs its lifetime, with many more being indirectly supported by the wider supply chain impacts.
OnPath Energy, formerly known as Banks Renewables, recently announced the completion of the Kype Muir Extension Wind Farm, the first UK project to achieve 200-meter tip heights. This represents a significant advancement in turbine technology and renewable energy.
Including the original Kype Muir site, which has been operational since 2019, both sites now feature a total of 41 turbines. Together, they generate over 478 GWh of electricity annually, providing renewable power to more than 123,000 homes — equivalent to a city similar in size to Aberdeen.
OnPath Energy has obtained planning permission for 14 wind farms and currently operates 11 onshore wind farms across Scotland and northern England, with a combined installed generation capacity of approximately 280 MW.
ENDS
Issued by Holyrood PR on behalf of OnPath Energy, for more information contact info@holyroodpr.co.uk or 0131 561 2244
Editors’ Notes
About OnPath Energy
- OnPath Energy is a leading UK onshore renewable energy developer, formerly known as Banks Renewables.
- Banks Renewables was acquired by Brookfield in a transaction that was announced in October 2023 and completed in December 2023.
- OnPath Energy will be led by the same team building on our trusted position in the UK’s onshore renewable energy market with the ambition to become the leading land based renewable energy developer.
- OnPath Energy headquarters will remain in the North East of England with an office in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.
- We are members of RenewableUK, Scottish Renewables and the Independent Renewable Energy Generators Group (IREGG).
- In order to achieve net zero the UK will need to deploy substantial amounts of low carbon infrastructure across the UK for several decades.
- OnPath Energy is one of the UK’s leading land-based renewable energy developers with an enhanced portfolio of onshore wind, solar and energy storage projects across the country.
- We believe in placing people and planet at the heart of what we do, that’s why the long-term commitments that have been made to the communities in which our existing renewable energy schemes are located remain fully in place.
- We are constantly looking for better ways to deliver renewables projects which tackle climate change, help to drive down energy bills for the consumer and help to improve the UK’s energy security over the long term.
- We care about what we do and the way that we do it, including long term relationships with local communities. Last year over £1,000,000 of community funding was awarded to 100+ community groups and environmental projects.
- We believe in being a good neighbour, with a long and proud track record of playing a positive role in our local communities.
- We are committed to bringing local businesses into our supply chain to create local jobs and establishing local panels to guide investment.
- Our projects protect, encourage and enhance the local environment while tackling climate change.
- We work in partnership with landowners to provide additional value to existing business, enable agriculture and developments to proceed.
Key facts
- OnPath Energy is owned by global alternative asset manager Brookfield.
- We have secured planning permission for 14 windfarms and currently operate eleven onshore wind farms across Scotland and the north of England with a combined installed generation capacity of 282MW.
- Our eleven wind farms are: i) Armistead; ii) Hazlehead; iii) Heysham South; iv) Hook Moor; v) Kype Muir; vi) Lambs Hill; vii) Marr; viii) Middle Muir; ix) Moor House and x) Penny Hill xi) Kype Muir Extension.
- We expect our eleven onshore wind farms to generate around 840Gwh per year.
- We have also obtained planning permission for two solar arrays and are developing other renewable and flexible energy projects.
- We have planning permission for 283MW of renewable electricity generation, with a further 532MW in the planning system.
- We have displaced around 776,990 tonnes of CO2 from operational projects to date.
- The 887MW we have in various stages of the planning and build out process is enough to provide the equivalent electricity for around 602,000 gas heated homes or a city larger than Leeds or Glasgow.
About Brookfield
Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM, TSX: BAM) is a leading global alternative asset manager with over $900 billion of assets under management. Brookfield invests client capital for the long-term with a focus on real assets and essential service businesses that form the backbone of the global economy. Brookfield offers a range of alternative investment products to investors around the world — including public and private pension plans, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, insurance companies and private wealth investors.
Brookfield operates Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE: BEP, BEPC TSX: BEP.UN, BEPC), one of the world’s largest publicly traded, pure-play renewable power platforms, with approximately 33,000 megawatts of installed renewable energy capacity and a development pipeline of approximately 155,00 megawatts of renewable power assets, 14 MMTPA of carbon capture and storage, 2 million tons of recycled material and 3 million metric million British thermal units of renewable natural gas production annually.
