September 12, 2007
England
England
A developer will press ahead with controversial plans for a 160ft wind turbine in a quiet moorland village, the Cornish Guardian can reveal.
Cornwall Light and Power Ltd (CLP) is to go ahead with a planned turbine in Pensilva, after previously saying it was undecided.
Bosses at the company had said they “had to be sure” there was enough local support for the plans before making a decision. But a company spokesman said this week it “would be submitting a planning application in the coming months”.
CLP claims that the three-bladed structure will be around 50 metres tall, with each blade approximately 30 metres long – giving a rotar diameter of 60 metres.
It will produce an output of 1.3mw – providing enough electricity for around 900 homes – and it is estimated that the turbine will prevent the emissions of between 2,500 and 3,400 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
CLP will build, operate and maintain the turbine.
The news was not welcomed by opposition group Green Caradon Against Turbines (Green CATs).
Its chairman, Danny Mageean, said that wind power was simply not a viable answer to the country’s energy crisis.
“We do believe that wind energy itself is not very green – wind turbines are only between 21% and 24% efficient,” he said.
“For a long time the powers that be in this country have been obsessed with finding an alternative to our coal and gas-fired power stations, when in reality what we need to be doing is looking at how we can reduce our energy output.
“We use around 680mw of energy here in Cornwall. We are led to believe that 43mw can come from wind energy – but that’s only if these things run every hour of every day. In reality it is more like 10.3mw – which is 1.5% of our needs. If people turned off their televisions at night-time we could save a lot more energy than that. For the amount of damage these things do to the landscape, you have to ask if it is worth it.”
12 September 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/09/12/developer-to-submit-turbine-application/