The largest onshore windfarm in Europe has joined the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA).

Whitelee Windfarm near East Kilbride has become the first wind energy project in Scotland to join the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA).

ScottishPower Renewables and Glasgow Science Centre, who manage the visitor centre at Whitelee, took the decision to join the ASVA as Europe’s largest onshore windfarm approaches the major milestone of welcoming quarter of a million visitors.

Since it was officially opened in September 2009, estimates suggest that beyond the official figures for the Visitor Centre, at least a further 100,000 people have directly accessed the windfarm's 90km of trails for recreational purposes such as jogging and cycling.

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Whitelee’s £2m visitor centre includes a range of interactive displays and exhibitions, including a number of new and refreshed attractions for 2012. A separate learning hub, staffed by Glasgow Science Centre experts, caters for primary and secondary school visits.

John Alexander, Project Director at ScottishPower Renewables, said interest in Whitelee Windfarm had "surpassed expectations".

He said: "One of our key priorities when building the windfarm was to ensure that it was accessible, and that people could enjoy interacting with it. The new tracks and paths have opened up large sections of countryside that people previously could not access."

Energy and Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said: "The visitor numbers show just how much people are interested in renewables and the opportunities they open up in the countryside."

(NE)