Planning permission has been granted for a wind farm to be constructed in Dumfries and Galloway.

A 22-turbine wind farm will be built at Ewe Hill, of which six turbines already had permission from the local authority.

The £65m investment by ScottishPower Renewables will have a generating capacity of up to 51MW, which could power approximately 24,000 homes in the area.

Around 80 short-term construction jobs are expected to be created, with additional employment opportunities likely to arise during the decommissioning process. It is also said that around £20m will be spent on the construction of civil and electrical infrastructure.

Over the operational life of Ewe Hill Windfarm, ScottishPower Renewables has said it expects to deliver the equivalent of £5,000 per MW of installed capacity per annum towards community led initiatives, totalling around £6.3m over the lifetime of the development.

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Granting permission for the development, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: "The Ewe Hill wind farm will create a significant number of jobs, as well as generating power for many thousands of homes.

"It's encouraging to see that a solution has been found to deal with the aviation radar issues which have held the proposal up.

"Projects like this provide considerable benefits to the local community, and play an important part in helping Scotland reach its target of 100 per cent of electricity demand generated from renewables.

"The Scottish Government wants to see the right developments in the right places, and Scottish planning policy is clear that the design and location of renewables projects should reflect the scale and character of the landscape, as well as being considered environmentally acceptable."

Elsewhere, Mr Ewing refused permission for a similar sized wind farm in the Scottish Borders. A proposal had been submitted to erect 21 turbines at Rowantree wind farm near Oxton, but the plans were rejected on the grounds of noise impacts to nearby residents, as well as visual impacts on the local environment.

(JP/CD)