Scottish firms can expect contracts worth more than £200 million during the construction of Europe's largest onshore wind farm in South Lanarkshire according to Alex Salmond, first minister. He made the statement during a visit to observe preparatory works at Clyde wind farm.

On completion in 2011, the 152-turbine facility near Abington will be capable of powering up to 320,000 homes.

The £600 million Scottish and Southern Energy scheme is expected to create 200 jobs during construction.

The construction which will be taken up in phases will involve erection of turbines in clusters on either side of the M74 motorway.

The wind farm is expected to overtake the Whitlee wind farm that is at present the largest onshore such facility in Europe. ScottishPower has said that it is hoping to expand the facility to 614 MW.

"The Clyde wind farm will direct more than £200m of investment to businesses in Scotland," Salmond said.

He added that he was delighted to note that the towers for the groundbreaking development would be manufactured in Scotland.

He said that Scotland's potential for renewables at 60GW was more than 10 times the peak demand.

Colin Hood, Scottish and Southern Energy chief operating officer, commenting on the visit said Clyde was a "nationally-important" wind farm.

He added that the company had major investment plans for renewable energy and hoped that as many businesses as possible in Scotland would benefit from them.

The towers deal was particularly important as it helped secure 100 jobs at the Welcon Towers factory in Machrihanish, which was about to be closed before it was taken over by the Danish manufacturer earlier this year.

Jesper Øhlenschlæger, chief executive of Skykon A/S, said that Welcon Towers Ltd, a Skycon company wad delighted to the tower supplier for the Clyde project from its factory in Campbeltown and looked forward to seeing yet another sep forward for renewable energy and sustainable economic development.