Afton Wind Farm is an operational 50 MW onshore wind development in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The wind farm will power up to 35,000 homes each year and is expected to generate 3.5 million MWh of electricity in its lifetime.
Afton was acquired by Red Rock Renewables in Autumn 2018 when construction was completed. This marks SDIC Power’s first onshore and fully owned, operating development in Europe. The wind farm is owned by Red Rock Renewables subsidiary, Afton Wind Farm Limited, and operated the Red Rock Asset Management team alongside RES.
The 25-turbine development is located approximately 7.5km south of New Cumnock, at the southern end of Glen Afton and to the west of the Afton Reservoir. The site is bounded to the east by the Scottish Water owned Afton Reservoir and lies between the commercial Carsphairn Forestry to the north and west, and a Scottish Water conifer plantation to the east. The land on which development has taken place is largely owned by Scottish Water. Walkers will continue to have access to the public right of way through the wind farm. Health and safety information is available at the entrance on Afton Road.
Afton Wind Farm Limited will contribute £6.25 million to the local community during the project’s lifetime through community benefit grants each year – £125,000 direct grant to the New Cumnock Development Trust plus a £125,000 contribution to East Ayrshire Council.
The project utilises 25 Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy G80 Wind Turbine Generators with hub heights of either 60m or 78m. The turbines are connected together with 33kV underground cabling with the grid connection point at the nearby Blackhill substation.
Health, Safety and Environment at Afton Wind Farm
Public paths surrounding Afton Wind Farm remain accessible to members of the public. However, as this is an operational wind farm, Red Rock Renewables has provided the following guidelines to ensure walkers, cyclists and other users are able to make safe and well-informed decisions.
If you intend to pass through the Glen Afton area, please keep the following in mind:
- Health, Safety and Environmental guidance is displayed at the main entrance to the site * Please stay on existing paths, leave any gates as you found them and respect The Scottish Outdoor Access Code
- Please stay clear of any maintenance works and comply with any specific health and safety information you are given, including any temporary restrictions or diversions indicated
- Please do not attempt to approach or enter a wind turbine
- Please note the wind farm site is unmanned. If you experience difficulty whilst on the wind farm and require emergency help, please call the required emergency services and advise them of your location (each wind turbine tower is numbered). Please note that mobile phone service is often unreliable
- There is danger of ice throw from turbine blades so please maintain a safe distance in cold weather
- Red Rock Renewables advises that no access to the wind farm should be taken during lightning weather warnings
- Afton Wind Farm is built within an environmentally sensitive area, please ensure you take any waste with you when leaving and we would kindly ask you to report any incidents on the number above to help us protect the community