Vestas and CLP application for Isle of Wight wind farm moves forward
Greenwise Staff
5th February 2009
A planning application for a 9MW wind farm on the Isle of Wight, which if approved would mark the first major commitment to renewable electricity by the island, was officially registered with the local authority this week.
The application, submitted jointly by UK renewable energy company Cornwall Light & Power Ltd and global wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, is to build three 125-metre-tall wind turbines on land at Cheverton Down, on the south side of the island. If approved, the £9 million farm would generate enough electricity to power over 4,700 homes and would be the first one to be built on the island.
CLP, which operates small wind farms in the UK, such as Goonhilly Down in Cornwall, has owned the site at Cheverton for the past four years and has existing planning consent for three turbines. The company said the new application would allow for modern turbines to be installed and in doing so would increase their generating capacity by a factor of 10.
Vestas, which has a manufacturing base on the Isle of Wight and is planning to build a £50 million R&D centre on the island, is acting as CLP’s turbine supply partner on the project and wants to use the site as base for research and development.
CLP said the wind farm would generate 100MW of renewable electricity and supported the Isle of Wight Council’s Eco Island aims, a stated ambition for the island to be carbon neutral by 2020.
However, the application has already met strong local opposition and a previous application for a wind farm on the island, at Wellow in West Wight, was turned down by the Isle of Wight Council in 2006.
CLP development manager Steve Allen said the company had carried out a thorough technical and environmental assessment, which demonstrated that the site at Cheverton met all the planning requirements for wind energy development “at a local, regional and national level.
“The existing consent has already established the principle of wind energy at Cheverton Down – now we have an opportunity to maximise the output and produce even more clean, emissions-free electricity for the island,” he said.
Rob Sauven, managing director at Vestas Technology UK Ltd, said, the wind farm would create additional engineering and research opportunities, as well as attracting further investment to the island.
“[It will] cement the island’s position as the centre of wind knowledge in the UK. Here on the Isle of Wight, Vestas already employs over 500 people across its engineering and manufacturing arm and this workforce represents the largest group of people in the UK currently engaged in renewable energy”.
The application was in fact submitted last month, but its registration was held up because the Isle of Wight planning authority asked for a tree survey to be carried out.