Step closer for zero carbon business park

The park is planned for the site of a former tin mine called Wheal Jane, near Truro, in Cornwall.

According to Bernard Ballard, director of marketing and property for the project it will include a wind turbine, two small-scale hydro-power schemes, geothermal heating, a biomass plant and a photovoltaic solar farm.

This week Cornwall County Council granted planning consent for a mast to monitor whether a planned wind turbine on the Baldhu site would be effective.

Mr Ballard said: “The monitoring mast is a temporary structure to gather data as part of the wind energy investigation on the site.

“Our work on the green energy plan as a whole is also progressing well, the site could be self-sufficient in its energy demands and will be able to export any surplus power to the national grid.

“The development will also include a number of zero carbon workshops and office buildings.

“A key aspect of the project is to capitalise on the site’s natural resources to generate its energy needs.”

He added that the hydropower scheme will be powered by an old waste water stream using the flow of water from the mine treatment plant at Wheal Jane, which is operated by the Environment Agency.

Mark Pilcher, of the Environment Agency who backed the scheme, said: “By supporting development of these renewable energy projects, we are helping to limit and adapt to the effects of climate change.

“Operating the mine water de-pollution plant at Wheal Jane is energy intensive – often using seven large electric pumps running for 24 hours a day.

“By diverting the treated water discharge through a hydropower system, the lost energy can be recovered.

“This will create more green electricity to feed in to the national grid, reducing the amount of fossil fuel derived power which needs to be produced.”

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Luke Walsh