Wind Farm Construction

How to set up a wind farm, whether a commercial or community project

Installing wind turbines is difficult, expensive and risky.

Finding a suitable site is difficult

It must have good wind speeds and grid connections, and a willing landowner.

It must not be too near houses, airfields, flight paths, MOD installations, gas pipe lines and special landscape areas.

Satisfying all these criteria is difficult in our crowded island, even in Norfolk

Planning applications are expensive, uncertain and lengthy.

Surveys are needed, frequently costing up to £100,000. These include ecological impact, visual impact, noise, a traffic survey - how the turbines will get to the site, shadow flicker, electromagnetic interference and a grid connection survey.

Wind speeds must be measured for a year to prove the site is profitable.

All the money spent on these investigations will be lost if the scheme is rejected. Venture capital banks estimate that only one in four applications succeeds.

Turbines are expensive.

They usually have to be paid for in full, installed and insured, before they produce one penny’s worth of electricity.

They have a life of about 25 years, so decommissioning and replacement costs also have to be allowed for.

Only very large companies can afford to build large windfarms.

How is our smaller community scheme to be financed?

Until planning permission is gained, with a mixture of grants, gifts and free help from supporters, the work of our volunteer directors, and support from shareholders. As an Industrial & Provident Society we can apply for grants. We advise potential investors not to invest more than they can afford to lose before planning is approved.

Once planning permission is given, we can go to banks and shareholders for capital just like any commercial scheme.

After planning permission, professionals, including a project manager and secretary, will be employed to install and run the turbines.

The community aspect remains initially with handling membership and investment, and later with giving grants from proceeds and looking for further sites.

Electricity is sold to the grid through a Power Purchase Agreement with an electricity provider. In addition to their price there are several government ‘subsidies’, termed ROCs, LECs, and recycled ROCs.

Once established, turbines are profitable

The current price is about £100 per MW. Thus two 2MW turbines at North Walsham would earn £876,000 per year, assuming full capacity of 25%. Over 25 years this would be £21,900,000.

Even with initial costs of over £5 or £6 million, and yearly standard running costs such as rent, office work and occasional maintenance, there will be plenty of money for shareholders and local grants.

From April 2011 this may increase. Consultation has just started (1 February – 26 April) on a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) a feed-in-tariff for producers of renewable energy. More information can be obtained from The Department of Energy & Climate Change.

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