The Scottish Government has approved a 22-turbine wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway.

The Ewe Hill project represents a £65m investment by developer ScottishPower Renewables and will have a generating capacity of up to 51MW.

The project is expected to create around 80 short-term construction jobs, with further employment opportunities likely to arise during the decommissioning process.

It is estimated that around £20m will be spent for development of civil and electrical infrastructure, with ScottishPower Renewables seeking to encourage contractors to hire from local suppliers, the government said.

Meanwhile, the government has refused an application to construct the 21-turbine Rowantree wind farm near Oxton in the Scottish Borders, citing noise and visual impacts to nearby residents, among other issues.

The Ewe Hill project will provide a community benefits scheme totalling around £6.3m over the lifetime of the development to local projects.

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% 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.”

Since May 2007, Scotland has approved 63 renewable energy planning applications, which included 36 onshore wind, one offshore wind, 19 hydro, four wave and tidal and three Renewable Thermal Plants, and 19 non-renewable projects.