OREANDA-NEWS. June 13, 2012. SSE Renewables, the renewable energy development division of SSE, has completed final commissioning works at its Gordonbush wind farm site, near Brora in Sutherland.

Main construction work began in Autumn 2010 and turbine deliveries were completed in February this year. The 35 turbine site has now been handed over to SSE’s operations team and adds a further 70MW of installed renewable energy capacity to SSE’s growing portfolio.

During the development of the works, SSE Renewables has invested over ?100m with many of the larger contracts being awarded to Scottish businesses and several local firms working on the project. In total, an estimated 237 ‘job years’ (or 237 jobs for a year) were created during the course of works, with an estimated 166 of these being supported in the Highland region, and 52 within the local Sutherland economy.

SSE’s Director of Onshore Renewables, Dave Gardner, said “We have a long history in the Highlands with our hydro heritage and believe that projects such as Gordonbush wind farm deliver significant short and long term benefits to both the Highland region, and also to the local communities around our projects. We are continually looking at ways to involve more local businesses and ensure that as much benefit as possible is received locally.”

“The local community is very important to us when we are delivering a project of this scale. Firstly, we try to maximise the local economic benefits such as the provision of materials, services, labour and accommodation from local sources. We have also worked closely with the local communities to ensure the project was delivered smoothly and considerately and we would like to say a big thank you to Golspie and Brora Community Councils for accepting us into their communities and working so closely and positively with us during the course of the works.”

“Gordonbush makes an important contribution to the Scottish Government’s target of 100% renewable energy by 2020, and has delivered, and will continue to deliver, important socio-economic benefits to the local area.”