POWER FOR GOOD

WADLOW WIND FARM

Wadlow Farm Wind Farm will be well placed in Cambridgeshire, in an exposed, windy location, to make a genuine contribution to regional and national renewable energy targets.

Each unit of power generated by a wind turbine directly displaces a unit of electricity - and therefore the pollution - that would otherwise be generated by a conventional power station. Turbines can go on producing green energy for about 25 years. At the end of their working lives, they can, if so desired, be dismantled and removed and the ground returned to normal agricultural use, leaving behind no legacy of pollution or dangerous radioactive waste for future generations. Most studies suggest that wind turbines take between 3-10 months to pay back the electricity consumed during their life cycle - from production and installation through to maintenance and decommissioning.

We chose the Wadlow Farm site because it fulfilled the criteria for a good, low-impact wind farm in this part of Cambridgeshire.

It will not affect environmentally sensitive areas and the turbines are sufficient distance from homes not to result in a significant deterioration of residential amenity. A lot of thought has gone into the design of the wind farm and the layout of the turbines to minimise detrimental environmental effects and to maximise benefits to the flora and fauna of the site, while also contributing to global environmental efforts.

In addition, the site has:

  • good access and transport links - with the A11 passing near the site we can avoid site traffic passing through local villages;
  • a close connection to the local electricity grid - the grid connection is likely to be underground and so no extra pylons will be necessary;
  • the potential to generate significant amounts of renewable electricity.

Wind power is a natural, home-grown and abundant source of energy. The Wadlow Farm Wind Farm will help protect our finite natural resources and make our energy supply more secure, reducing the need to rely increasingly on imports of foreign gas and oil.