A planning application has been submitted by leading green energy firm npower renewables1 for a wind farm at Bradwell-on-Sea, on the Dengie peninsula.
If granted planning permission, the 10 turbine wind farm could produce enough green power to meet the average annual electricity needs of between 8,100 and 10,6002 homes, making an important contribution to both local and national renewable energy targets.
Project Manager Vicky Portwain of npower renewables said, "We have taken our time in order to carry out extensive and very detailed environmental work and consultation."
"The many studies undertaken to assess the project have now been completed and the results have been recorded in the Environmental Statement document submitted with the planning application. We believe that the work carried out is thorough and addresses the issues that were raised during the consultation period."
Vicky Portwain concluded, "At the moment Essex has no installed wind power generation, so the wind farm at Bradwell-on-Sea is a great opportunity for the county to start generating renewable energy and making a contribution to tackling some of the key environmental problems we face at both a local and global scale. This wind farm proposal is an important step towards a sustainable East of England both for ourselves and future generations."
The Environmental Statement, Non-Technical Summary and computer generated images, can be viewed on our web-site at www.npower-renewables/bradwell. The full Environmental Statement can be viewed at Maldon District Council or Essex County Council. It is now the responsibility of Maldon District Council to register the planning application and advertise locally, outlining the period in which people can respond to the plans.
Editors Notes
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npower renewables is the UK's leading wind farm developer and operator, committed to developing and operating wind farms and hydro plant that produce sustainable and environmentally-friendly electricity. The company operates 15 wind farms in the UK, including North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm, the first major offshore wind farm to be built in UK waters. In addition to the 267MW of installed wind energy generation that it currently operates, npower renewables also operates some 55MW of hydroelectric power. The company also operates co-firing biomass plant through its parent company RWE npower and is supporting the development of "new" renewables such as wave and tidal through the npower juice fund.
- This figure was calculated using the following:
An average home utilises 4700 kWh per year (Ref: The Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2005 gives 2004 domestic electricity consumption as 117.589 terawatt-hours (TWh) which, when taken with the 25.2 million households (based on Welsh homes = 1.213 million, England = 21.109 million,
Scotland = 2.217 million, Northern Ireland = 652,000 gives an average electricity usage of 4,666 kWh per year per household).
The energy predicted to be generated by the proposal has been calculated using an assumed capacity factor of 27.3%, and is based on an installed capacity of 12 MW. The energy capture, capacity factor and equivalent homes figure relating to this project may change as site specific information is gathered.
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Wind Farm Facts:
Number of wind turbines
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10
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Installed capacity of project
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between 15 and 25 Megawatts
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Number of average homes supplied annually equivalent to project generation
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between 8,100 and 10,600 homes each year
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Amount of carbon dioxide emissions saved
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between 32,800 and 42,800 tonnes each year
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Height of turbines
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121 metres to the tip (highest point)
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In estimating the potential offset of harmful emissions it is recognised that over the life of the Bradwell Wind Farm these values may change due to, for example, variation in the generating plant mix over the 25 year life of the wind farm.
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