First Minister Alex Salmond has welcomed the announcement of proposals for £1 billion of investment in Scotland's wind energy industry, which could create almost 600 jobs and power more than half-a-million homes.

Burcote Wind, which has its headquarters in Dunfermline, has plans to develop 10 wind farms at locations across Scotland, from Aberdeenshire to Dumfries and Galloway, totalling nearly 800 megawatts (MW) of installed electricity generating capacity.

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The First Minister said: "Burcote's announcement is very welcome and further evidence of the significant interest from a range of businesses in investing in Scotland's world-leading renewable energy industry.

"Scotland's renewable energy sector is estimated to have secured a record-breaking £750 million of investment in the year to October 2011, with a pipeline of proposed projects with 17 gigawatts of generating capacity, worth an estimated capital investment of £46 billion.

"While each project will be subject to the appropriate planning processes, this proposed investment underlines yet again how our natural resources are creating new, green jobs and putting Scotland at the forefront of the renewables revolution."

(GK)