Anyone want an old turbine? Wind farm revamp leads to offer

Good Energy, the company that owns the Delabole wind farm in Cornwall, now has the finance in place to replace the ten original turbines with four more powerful machines which will produce 9.2MW, well over double the current output.

Planning permission was granted towards the end of 2009 and the work is now expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The £12m upgrade will see just over £2m spent from Good Energy’s own coffers, with a loan from the Co-operative Bank covering the rest of the costs.

Juliet Davenport, chief executive of Good Energy Group said: “The Co-op and Good Energy have both been at the forefront of renewable energy development for many years and I am delighted to have them as co-funder in this project.

“Increasing the capacity of Delabole will help contribute to Cornwall’s renewable energy targets, increase price stability for our customers and take another step in helping the UK reduce its carbon footprint.”

She told edie: “”Re-powering through the use of more efficient, modern turbines is a great way to boost renewable energy output in the UK without having to look for and build new sites. Good Energy’s site at Delabole will boost output by around two-and-a-half times while reducing the number of turbines from ten to four.

“If we did that in all of the older, less efficient wind farms across the UK the energy boost would be enormous.”

“We are now looking at what to do with the old turbines. There is still life in them yet! We’d be interested to hear from anyone if they want to make effective use of them.”

Anyone who wants to give the old turbines a new lease of life should email david.hopkins@carboninternational.com

Sam Bond