WADLOW WIND FARM
Since receiving consent to build the 13-turbine wind farm
in November 2009, the project entered Construction in
June 2011 and the programme is progressing well. The
access tracks have been completed, grid connection cables have been
laid, and the final concrete pour for the turbine foundations took
place at the end of November 2011 - a month ahead of
schedule.
The 26MW wind farm at Wadlow Farm will supply the annual equivalent
of 15,000 homes, or 29% of the houses in the South Cambridgeshire
District, avoiding thousands of tonnes of C02 emissions.
Planned On-site Activity Timeline
- Site preparation works start: June 2011
- Construct site roads & infrastructure: July 2011
- Construct turbine bases: Sep 2011
- Electrical works start: Dec 2011
- Turbine delivery: March 2012
- Wind farm starts generating: June 2012
- End of construction period: Oct 2012
Wadlow Farm Wind Farm is 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.