Wind

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A Windy Cheshire?

Wind turbine at Red Kite Centre, Aberystwyth

Energy generated from wind may have an important role to play within Cheshire in the future. Targets for renewable energy in Cheshire assume a high proportion will come from wind energy in both small and large turbines.

Small scale wind turbines are already in use across the County being used to supply highway signs and other low power uses which are not connected to the national grid system. Planning permission has just been secured for the first Windsave system in Cheshire-with installation underway in Autumn at Ashton Hayes Primary School in Chester. Planning permission is also being sought for the latest Swift wind turbine at Teggs Nose Country Park near Macclesfield.

A new campagin has been launched to promote wind energy. For further details look to the website Embrace Wind
www.embracewind.com

The latest wind project for Cheshire will potentially provide a substantial contribution to the 48MW of renewable energy by 2010. Welsh developer Tegni Cymru Cyf plans to put up four 410ft (135m) turbines near Aston in the Weaver Valley. Further information on this development. The application was considered by Vale Royal Planning Committee on 3rd October 2006 and refused on a voting of 8-7.

Large scale wind production may be limited in the county due to our low lying topography and generally low wind speeds. Wind in Cheshire is generally low, somewhere in the order of 4-5m/s (at 25m). Higher wind speeds are achievable in the Peak District fringes and across the Sandstone ridge-this coincides with landscape protection designations of national park and areas of special county landscape value. Find out about the windspeed in your area.

At the current time there are around 100 wind power projects with 950 turbines across the UK, producing around 500 MW of energy (Oct 2002). This power production saves around 1.4MT of CO2 being emitted in power stations. This is less than the total CO2 production across the whole of Cheshire, which in 2000 was estimated at 2MT of CO2. This illustrates the large increase in renewable energy production that is needed in order to balance CO2 emmissions. See an up to date map of the UK wind developments and a list of all UK grid connected projects.

There is currently a significant debate about the future generation of electricity in the UK. The Energy White Paper provided positive support for small and large scale renewable energy production with the move to a low carbon future. The role of nuclear is also being debated at the current time. A recent survey indicates that the public is sceptical about the case for large scale new nuclear new build and would generally support the principle of wind farms to fill the potential energy gap. Further information on the survey.

A number of wind energy projects are planned for Cheshire. A 12MW wind farm was refused in Ashton, near Frodsham in October 2006, with a further application for Tarporley due to be considered. Cheshire has a target of 48MW of renewable energy by 2010, achieving this target will be a challenge. How will Cheshire achieve its target by 2010 and subequent future targets in the absence of planning permission for renewable energy technologies?. The planning system is undergoing rapid change to reflect government priorities for climate change and a more proactive energy policy. Can the development control planning system deliver change that the planning policy system is attempting to stimulate?. Unfortunately for Cheshire it has failed at the first test of enabling large scale renewable energy generation, but this is a similar pattern across the UK.

Macc Teggsnose Centre Outside Photo

The UK's potential resource for wind generated electricity, using windturbines sited in windy parts of the countryside, is put at about 20% of current electricity requirements. That's about what nuclear power provides at present.

The amount of power that can actually be obtained from the wind will depend on how many acceptable sites can be found. Most have been welcomed locally, but in some locations there have been some strong local protests, chiefly over noise problems and visual intrusion. The Case for Wind Farms is straight forward. Windpower is clean - extracting power from the wind produces no chemical or radioactive emissions, and has minimal physical impacts on the local ecosystem. The land around the windturbines in windfarms can be used for conventional agricultural purposes- indeed sheep seem to welcome them as windbreaks. Wind farm near Newtown, Mid Wales

Two of the nearest windfarms to Cheshire have been opposed on grounds of visual intrusion. An application for three 1.5MW turbines in Glyn Ceiriog, near Wrexham was refused by Wrexham County Borough Council. The development was opposed by a local group on amenity grounds. An application for a windfarm on the Denbigh Moors was also refused but approved on appeal. This latter development is the nearest onshore windfarm to Cheshire.
There is a current proposal in Cheshire for a windfarm on Frodsham marshes.

A number of recent developments have taken place in offshore windfarms. There are currently plans for a number of offshore wind farms in close proximity to Cheshire, the nearest is the Burbo Bank windfarm which is being developed by Seascape Energy Ltd.

Learning about the wind. Either of these websites below have information for students and teachers about wind energy.

Targets for the North West Region for wind energy were established in March 2001. These include the following targets for wind energy to 2010*Power to Prosperity Published by Sustinability North West, March 2001*