A WIND turbine which will power 1400 homes and help cut carbon emissions in Cornwall is nearing completion.
The 2.3 megawatt turbine at Ventonteague near Carland Cross is the first in the county to be smart grid-connected, and is set to start?generating?renewable electricity?from?September.
The smart grid-connected turbine will help Cornwall better manage its energy supply and reduce?Cornwall’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3,300 tonnes a year over the next two decades.?
Transforming the energy sector is an essential part of Cornwall Council’s response to tackling the climate emergency to help Cornwall become carbon neutral by 2030, and this project will reduce Cornwall’s greenhouse gas emisisons by more than 3,300 tonnes a year, says the Council.
Currently Cornwall generates around 37% of its electricity from renewables.
The new wind turbine is part of an EU-funded trial and forms part of energy company Centrica’s Cornwall Local Energy Market (LEM). This aims to help increase the amount of renewable energy that can be deployed by managing the electricity network more efficiently.?
For a video of the rotary blades being installed visit : https://vimeo.com/433933721
Tim?Dwelly, Cornwall’s portfolio holder for culture, economy and planning, said:?’Despite challenges posed by the lockdown we have managed to keep the construction of our first smart-grid wind turbine on schedule and we look forward to it starting to supply renewable energy from September.?
’The turbine will be an important testbed for our smart-grid concept and demonstrates how our Local Energy Market can make the best use of all renewable energies in Cornwall and help businesses as well.’
Edwina Hannaford, Cornwall’s Cabinet Member for climate change and neighbourhoods, said:?’As we work on our Covid recovery we are placing the climate emergency at the heart of our plans and the 2.3MW of renewable energy to be generated at?Ventonteague?will?count towards Cornwall’s ambitious plans to be carbon neutral by 2030.?
’This scheme is part of a suite of initiatives including investment into the United Downs and Eden Project deep geothermal power projects.’
Launched in December 2016, the LEM programme is receiving £11.5m support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is a collaboration between Centrica, Western Power Distribution (WPD), N-SIDE, Imperial College, the University of Exeter and National Grid ESO.?
The project brings Cornish homes and businesses together via a fully automated online flexible energy market platform.??
The platform allows network operators, the organisations that run the electricity distribution and transmission networks, to improve the way the grid works by buying energy?flexibility from local homes and businesses, helping to balance both grid demand and capacity.
Cornwall Council has made a £3m commercial investment into the wind turbine and will own and operate it once constructed.
Centrica has contributed £1m in funding to the project and is responsible for constructing and commissioning the infrastructure that will connect the turbine to the grid and the LEM.?
The site is less than half a mile from the existing 20MW?Carland?Cross wind farm.?
For more information on the Cornwall LEM, visit:?https://www.centrica.com/innovation/cornwall-local-energy-market?