Construction has started on Cornwall’s first, smart grid-connected wind turbine which will power the equivalent of around 1,100 homes and help cut carbon emissions.

The 2.3 megawatt (MW) turbine will be sited on Cornwall Council land at Ventonteague, near Carland Cross, on the A30, and is the first to be built in Cornwall since 2016.

It will generate enough renewable electricity to reduce Cornwall’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 2,800 tonnes a year over the next two decades.

The new wind turbine is part of an EU-funded trial and forms part of the innovative Cornwall Local Energy Market (LEM) which aims to help increase the amount of renewable energy that can be deployed by managing the electricity network more efficiently.