Lying across the borders between three council areas, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and West Lothian, 2½ miles (4 km) west of Forth, Black Law became the largest wind farm in the UK when it was officially opened in 2006 by Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen (b.1960). Costing £90 million and occupying a tract of moorland, pasture and forest together with the site of an abandoned open-cast coal mine, the farm began with 42 three-bladed Siemens turbines, each producing 2.3 megawatts (MW) giving a total generation capacity of 96.6 MW. The blade diameter is 101m (331 feet), with turbines mounted on 65m (213 feet) towers giving a height of 115m (377 feet) to blade tip. A further 12 turbines were soon added, bringing the total capacity to 124.2 MW. Following a public inquiry, permission has been given to extend the site with a further 34 turbines, bringing the total capacity to 226 MW. Black Law Wind Farm employs seven permanent staff on site.
The farm is one of the largest owned by Scottish Power, a privatised utility which now forms part of a multi-national energy group.
