RENEWABLE energy specialist Greencoat has moved to secure a further wind farm stake in south west Scotland.

Greencoat UK Wind said it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Douglas West wind farm from Cheshire-based Blue Energy.

Completion is expected to take place early next year, subject to the finalisation of construction, operation and maintenance contracts.

Construction is also due to start in 2019, with commercial operations scheduled for July 2021.

The Douglas West site, seven miles south west of Lanark, will have a total capacity of 45MW, and will be subsidy free.

Acquisition and construction costs will be about £45 million over the period from January 2019 to July 2021, which is expected to be funded through reinvestment of the firm's excess cash flow.

Portfolio returns remain in line with London-based Greencoat's investment objective, it said.

Tim Ingram, chairman of Greencoat UKW, said once operational it would increase the firm's capacity to 910MW.

Stephen Lilley, of Greencoat Capital, said: "During 2018 we have continued to build our portfolio with investments and commitments totalling over £500m, of which approximately 70% are in ROC (renewables obligation certificate) accredited wind farms."

The acquisition of Douglas West follows the recent acquisition of the Tom nan Clach CFD (contracts for difference) project in the north of Scotland.

In May, Greencoat was also lining up a significant increase in its investment in the Clyde development in South Lanarkshire after acquiring an initial stake there in 2016.

Greencoat UK Wind also bought the Langhope Rig wind farm near Hawick for £39.8m last year, from US giant GE.

The engineering and construction management services at Douglas West will be provided by Natural Power and Blue Energy.