Broadview

< Back to all project news 05 Sep 2007 - Westnewton Wind power proposal would reduce carbon emissions

An application to erect five wind turbines on a site south of Westnewton, near Aspatria, has today been submitted to Allerdale Borough Council.

Broadview Energy Developments seeks planning approval for five 107 metre high, three-bladed turbines, each capabale of producing around 2.5MW by turning wind energy into electrical energy.

This application includes access roads, a small control building, small transformers and a meteorological data gathering mast.

Broadview Managing Director Jeffrey Corrigan explained: "The power generated by the turbines will be exported to the national grid. This will produce enough electricty to power 6,989 households with renewable energy annually, more than enough to supply the near 6,000 homes in the wards of Aspatria, Holme, Ellen, Solway, Wharrels and Silloth.

"This will contribute towards the UK's target of producing over 10 per cent of electricity from renewable resources by 2010 and 20 per cent by 2020.

"It will also play its part in achieving the European Union's "Renewable Directive" target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 12 per cent by the end of 2010 and 20 per cent by 2020.

"The proposed wind cluster will reduce the need to use finite fossil fuels such as coal to generate electricity and reduce the emission of pollutants such as cardon dioxide - the greenhouse gas associated with global warming.

"Climate change is one of the most serious envronmental problems faced by the world today. Over the last two centuries global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have grown by nearly 30 per cent, methane concentrations have more than doubled and nitrous oxide concentration increased by about 15 per cent. Wind energy reduces these emissions, and is inexhaustible."

If planning permission is granted, construction is expected to commence some 12 months later and will take somewhere between eight months and a year to complete. The turbines themselves will be manufactured in sections off-site and then erected using cranes. Each turbine will be connected by underground cables to a building on the site, in which the switchgear and transformers will be housed. The project is likely to bring economic benefit to the area through the use of local contractors and locally sourced materials.

PB Power, part of the Parsons Brinckeroff Group, a world expert in wind energy, has produced an environmental statement that accompanies the planning application. It is a comprehensive study of the environmental sensitivities of the proposed cluster and its location and explains measures that will be taken to minimise any effect on the local environment.

The Westnewton site was first identified as being potentially appropriate for the development of a wind cluster in 2002 and an anemometry mast was erected at that time to measure wind speeds and directions at the site. Numerous environmental, ecological, noise, landscape and visual studies have been carried out to confirm the suitability of the site. Extensive consultation with relevant bodies took place as the wind cluster layout was being designed and throughout the preparation of the environmental impact assessment that underpinned the environmental statement.

The wide range of organisations consulted included local authorities and bodies such as English Nature, the Lake District National Park Authority, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Environment Agency, the Cumbria Wildlife Trust and other such similar organisations.

Among its many conclusions the statement finds that the proposed turbines will not lead to an increase in noise levels, are unlikely to impact significantly on the conservation status of breeding and over-wintering birds and will not have a harmful effect on the landscape and visual impact on the character and appearance of the Solway Coast or Hadrian's Wall.

Copies are available for inspection, by appointment during normal office hours, from Allerdale Borough Council, Maryport Library and Aspatria Library. Information about the proposed wind cluster and a copy of the Environmental Statement - Non Technical Summary is available at the following website: www.westnewtonwind.co.uk

"Public consultation is very important to us and we wrote in March 2006 to all the local parish councils to advise them of the initial proposal and again in September 2006 and April 2007 keeping them informed of the project and offering to meet and discuss the project. In May this year we held a public meeting at the request of Westnewton Parish Council. Our proposal takes into consideration the comments made at that meeting and we will continues to consult with the local communities throughout the process," said Mr. Corrigan.

Further information from Brian Roach at French Jones on 01491410987.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Lisa Ross, Community Relations Manager at Broadview Energy on 020 8487 9150 / admin@broadviewenergy.com

 

Note to editors:

• A key part of the UK's climate change programme is the Renewable Obligation, introduced in April 2002. This requires licensed electricity suppliers to source specified percentages of the electricity supply from renewable resources.
• Wind power has been commerically harnessed since the early 1990s and by July this year around 1,840 wind turbines were in operation around the UK, supplying one per cent of the UK's electricity supply. The use of wind power has grown faster in other European countries than it has in the UK.
• A report issued by the UK's Office of Science and Technology - Foresight Future Flooding, estimated that by the end of this century up to four million Britons face the prospect of their homes being flooded directly as a result of climate change. Extreme weather events will become more frequent. 
• The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said in 1998 "a staggering number of species could be committed to extinction as a result of climate change - and a third or more of land-based plant and animal species by the 2050s if we take no action on global warming".
• Surveys of public attitudes have shown that a clear majority of between 70 and 75 per cent of the genral public are in favour of wind energy. 
• The maximum height of the Westnewton turbines will be 107m, the same as the onshore turbines at Voridian Chemical Works in Workington. The exact type of turbine to be used will not be decided until the planning process is complete and it is possible that smaller turbines will eventually be selected.
• It is intended that construction work would be limited to between 8am and 6pm on Monday to Friday and 8am till 12 noon on Saturday.

Broadview Energy Developments was established in 2003 and is investing in renewable energy generation at various small and medium sites across the UK. The company's founders and senior management have many years' experience in developing, financing, constructing and operating a wide range of power stations on an international basis. They recognise the attractiveness of wind energy and its ability to generate clean, sustainable and reliable electricity.