Dun Law Wind Farm is located at the boundaries of the Scottish Borders, Midlothian and East Lothian, just to the south of Soutra and 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Edinburgh. Dun Law is a hill lying at the western end of the Lammermuir Hills and the wind farm forms a dramatic vista for those travelling south from Edinburgh or north from Lauder. Commissioned in August 2000, the farm began as 26 Danish-built Vestas V47 turbines mounted on 40-m / 131-foot high towers. There were 9 turbines lying immediately to the east of the A68 trunk-road and 17 to the west. Each of these three-bladed Vestas V47 generators, which have a blade diameter of 47m (154 feet), produces 660 kilowatts (kW) of power.
In 2009, a further 35 Vestas V52 turbines were commissioned, 19 to the east of the road and 16 to the west. These stand on taller 75-m / 246-foot towers, have larger 52-m / 171-foot blades and a higher output of 850 kW, bringing the total generation capacity of the site to 47.35 megawatts (MW).
The turbines generate power from wind speeds as low as 4 metres per second (8.8 miles per hour) but, for reasons of safety, the turbine blades are feathered and generation stops at 25 m/s (55 mph).
Efforts have been made to minimise the environmental impact on the site and sheep still graze the hill-side right up to the base of the towers.
Dun Law Wind Farm is owned by Scottish Power, a privatised utility which now forms part of a multi-national energy group.
