March 10, 2007
U.K.
U.K.
People in Selby district have long had the imposing backdrop Drax Power Station in their midst – now two giant wind turbines are to be added to the scenery.
Yorkshire Water is to build two 90-metre tall turbines at its Loftsome Bridge water treatment works, between Selby and Howden.
Jim Claydon, the project manager for the wind turbine programme, said: “We’re delighted that we will shortly be using wind to help provide power to the plant.
“We’re committed to reducing our environmental impact and the construction of these two turbines is a positive step towards this.”
The utility firm has commissioned the scheme to reduce its carbon footprint.
Yorkshire Water has been investigating the potential of using green energy to help power a number of its sites.
By using wind power to help provide the Loftsome Bridge plant with electricity, the water company will reduce its carbon footprint by about 2,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year – the equivalent of taking more than 40 per cent of its fleet of vans and tankers off the road.
Mr Claydon said: “The two turbines will, on average, provide more than a third of our energy needs at Loftsome Bridge.
“But, when it’s very windy, there will be times when we can get all our energy needs from the turbines, which will have a positive impact on our carbon footprint.”
Roland Chilvers, chairman of the parish council in nearby Hemingbrough, welcomed the turbines.
“I personally can see no harm in it,” he said.
“I think anything to avoid air pollution is a good thing. It’s only a fraction – but every little helps.
“Elsewhere, you get hundreds of the things, and no one says anything about them.”
A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Water said planning permission for the turbines had only been granted following a range of stringent studies into their potential impact.
She said environment and aviation experts had been consulted and had found the scheme would cause minimal impact.
The turbines should be operational by the autumn.
The spokeswoman said Yorkshire Water spent tens of millions of pounds on fuel every year, and had installed wind-testing devices at a number of its water and sewage plants to look into the feasibility of harnessing wind power.
The wind levels at Loftsome Bridge were more than adequate.
By Gerran Grimshaw
10 March 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/03/10/wind-turbines-get-green-light-3/