Whitelee was built on Eaglesham Moor and contains footpaths and tracks for walkers to wander between the turbines as well as a visitor centre.

It covers an area of approximately 83 sq km (32 sq miles) which is almost half the size of neighbouring Glasgow.

It has become a popular spot for dog walkers and Scottish Power said its three-phase approach to repowering meant the site could remain accessible to the public during the rebuild.

It is not the first wind farm to be upgraded this way - the 26 turbines at Hagshaw Hill in South Lanarkshire were repowered last year and replaced with 14 larger ones.

But Whitelee will be the biggest to have all its turbines replaced and the company says 99% will be recycled.

More than half of Great Britain's current wind farm capacity is expected to reach the end of its life in the next decade, according to analysts Regen.

That means more will be considered for repowering, creating a pipeline of construction work.

The work at Whitelee is expected to generate about £330m for the Scottish economy.