October 19, 2011
England

Have a say on planned 330ft wind turbines

Cornish Guardian, www.thisiscornwall.co.uk 19 October 2011

St Breock Downs wind farm could be “repowered” by turbines almost twice the size of those currently standing, the Cornish Guardian can reveal.

There are currently 11 turbines standing 53 metres tall on the site, south of Wadebridge, but if plans by Cornish renewable energy company REG Windpower get planning permission these could be taken down and replaced with six more modern ones, measuring 102.5 metres – 330ft tall.

Although there will be fewer turbines the company says thanks to advances in technology they could treble the amount of electricity currently produced there.

The wind farm was one of the first in the country and has been running since 1994.

REG Windpower says the turbines are outdated but if removed could be recycled and erected somewhere else.

The proposed turbines are more than twice the height of Bodmin Beacon, which is 144ft tall (44 metres).

REG Windpower says the new turbines could produce enough energy to power 8,000 homes – more than twice the number in the area.

Visualisations

Information including visualisations demonstrating how the wind farm would look will be on display at Wadebridge Town Hall on Monday and Tuesday, November 7 and 8, from noon to 8pm.

Jim Wood, REG Windpower’s development manager for the project, said: “Over the years St Breock Downs has proved it’s an excellent place for a wind farm. Now we have the chance to almost treble the amount of clean electricity produced using just six turbines instead of 11 and I’m very pleased that we can share our plans with local people long before we submit a formal planning application.

“Local feedback is very important to us so I’m looking forward to meeting as many people as possible.”

The firm was especially keen to hear suggestions for local causes which could benefit from a proposed community fund paid for from electricity sales revenues, he said.

Planning consent for repowering of the wind farm was granted in 2003, but this was not implemented by the previous owner and has lapsed.

REG Windpower says it expects to submit a planning application in 2012.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/19/have-a-say-on-planned-330ft-wind-turbines/