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Work due to start at Roskrow Barton Wind Cluster
Work is due to start next week (w/c Sept 3rd) on a two-turbine wind cluster at Roskrow Barton, near Penryn in Cornwall.
One of the first steps will be to create a new site entrance from the A39 and construct a track over Roskrow Barton Farm to give access to the turbine locations.
Foundations will be built during the autumn and the turbines are scheduled to be delivered just before Christmas. Weather permitting, each turbine can be erected in a day, and the project is due to be completed in January.
Planning permission was granted in February 2004. Cornwall Light & Power, based at Charlestown near St Austell, acquired the project from npower renewables in 2005 and is therefore responsible for its construction and management.
Cornwall Light & Power owns and operates the long-established wind farm at Goonhilly Downs on the Lizard peninsula as well as other small projects in England and Wales.
There will be two Vestas V52 turbines at Roskrow Barton, each with a rated capacity of 850 Kilowatts, giving a total capacity of 1.7 Megawatts.
The towers for each of the two turbines will be 44 metres tall and the blades will be 26 metres long, giving an overall ‘tip' height of 70 metres.
Based on predictions for the long-term mean wind speed for the site, Cornwall Light & Power predicts that the two turbines will produce 5,500 Megawatt hours of clean electricity per annum - equivalent to the electricity used annually by 1,100 Cornish households.
This prediction is based on the most recent DTI energy statistics which indicates average annual domestic electricity usage of 5019 kWhr for homes in the south-west.
The electricity will go into Western Power Distribution's 11kV network via a small substation located next to the turbines. All cabling is underground, and as part of the project the overhead 11kV line will be placed underground where it runs alongside the site.
Allowing approximately six months to repay the carbon debt involved in manufacturing the new turbines, the project will produce carbon-free electricity for the rest of its working life - expected to be at least 20 years.
The equivalent electricity generated from fossil fuels would produce over 4,700 tonnes of harmful carbon emissions annually.
Cornwall Light & Power works with the School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources at the University of Exeter which offers a BSc Honours Degree in Renewable Energy.
The company's Chief Executive Neil Harris said: "UEC's Tremough Campus is very close to Roskrow Barton, and we are delighted to have this opportunity of helping students by providing data, and enabling them to gain first hand experience of working with wind turbines.
"These will be the highly-qualified recruits this industry will need as it continues to expand."
Neil continued: "We and our contractors will work to minimise the impact of construction on our nearest neighbours.
"We will provide construction updates on our website and hope to have a webcam running during turbine erection.
"Use of renewable energy is recognised worldwide as vitally important in reducing further damage to the planet caused by harmful carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
"Cornwall is currently producing just over 52 Megawatts of its electricity from renewable sources, and 74 per cent of this is from onshore wind power generated at seven wind farms.
"However there is much to be done if Cornwall is to achieve its target of having between 93MW and 108MW of renewable energy capacity by 2010, and the wind cluster at Roskrow Barton will play a welcome part in this progress.
"I would encourage people to contact us on any aspect of this project as we move into the construction phase."