Fred. Olsen Renewables has officially inaugurated Crystal Rig IV Wind Farm in the Lammermuir Hills, completing the fourth phase of its flagship onshore project south of Dunbar and taking the wider Crystal Rig cluster to 102 turbines.
The opening ceremony on 3 September 2026 was led by Stephen Gethins MSP, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Energy, who unveiled the commemorative plaque alongside representatives of Fred. Olsen Renewables and project partner Hvitsten. Crystal Rig IV comprises 11 turbines — four of which reach up to 200 metres tip height — with 49 MW of installed capacity. The company says the extension will generate enough clean electricity to power almost 50,000 homes a year, and, combined with the earlier phases, positions Crystal Rig as one of Scotland’s largest onshore wind clusters.
£5m into the local supply chain
The inauguration doubled as the launch of the Crystal Rig IV Supply Chain Impact Report, which puts construction expenditure in South East Scotland at more than £5 million.
According to Fred. Olsen Renewables, that spend has been directed into local businesses, jobs and economic activity across the region “while delivering wider benefits across Scotland and the UK”. The company frames the project as a demonstration of what a single onshore wind build can channel into a rural Scottish supply chain when the primary contractor and developer commit to local sourcing.
Stephen Gethins MSP said: “Crystal Rig IV stands as another example of what can be achieved when government, industry and communities work together towards a common goal. It was a pleasure to see years of work from Fred. Olsen Renewables come to fruition, with 102 turbines now generating power for people across Scotland.”
“Scotland can and must see the benefit of our ample natural resources,” he added. “Onshore wind is one of the cheapest forms of new energy generation we can build, and projects like this are vital to our just transition.”
A community and industry milestone
Sofie Olsen Jebsen, chief executive of Fred. Olsen Renewables, framed the opening as a joint achievement across the project’s stakeholders.
“Today is a proud moment for everyone involved in Crystal Rig IV,” she said. “This project demonstrates what can be achieved when communities, industry, policymakers and supply chain partners work together towards a common goal. Beyond delivering renewable electricity, Crystal Rig IV has generated significant economic opportunities for local businesses and communities, helping to strengthen both the regional economy and Scotland’s clean energy future.”
For the wider Scottish onshore wind pipeline, Crystal Rig IV is an incremental but symbolically important step: a Contracts for Difference-backed extension delivered on the site of a cluster first switched on in 2003, formally commissioned by a Scottish energy minister, with a documented local-spend figure attached on day one. With the Scottish Government also progressing Fred. Olsen Renewables’ consented Crystal Rig Solar extension on adjacent land, the site now anchors a multi-technology, multi-decade renewable-energy footprint in East Lothian and the Scottish Borders — one that the developer, its Norwegian parent Bonheur, and the Scottish Government are all publicly using as a template for what future large-scale onshore build-out in Scotland is meant to look like.
