Ysgellog Farm Wind Farm, the site of two new wind turbines in Anglesey, has won the category for Outstanding Green Energy Project at the Wales Green Energy Awards.
The wind turbines were recognised because of developer’s commitment to keeping the economic benefits of the project within the Anglesey community during the construction period.
During construction of the two wind turbines a vast amount of materials were utilised. 25 tons of steel were used to construct each turbines base. These bases were then filled with 600 tons of concrete designed to act as a sturdy foundation for the turbines.
A 500 ton telescopic crane was used to hoist the tubular tower, the nacelle, generator and rotors into position. The turbines measure 92.5 metres in height and took five months to construct; the wind farm is now operational with the installed capacity of both turbines totaling 4.6 Mega Watts.
Owners of the wind farm, Airvolution, gave priority to service providers in the area to ensure the local community benefitted from the development. 71% of suppliers for the Ysgellog Farm Wind Farm were Welsh and 35% were from Anglesey; £316,000 spent on the Island.
A Community Benefit Fund has been set up for each of Airvolutions operating projects. Each fund is administered by GrantScape; an independent charity that ensures that each fund maximises the benefits for the community. The local community decides how the fund is spent; it could support initiatives such as energy efficiency and education projects, local generation or conservation schemes.
A fixed annual payment per megawatt (MW) of installed capacity, index-linked to account for inflation is awarded to each area. Projects still awaiting a Council decision as of July 2013, the fund amount is £5,000 per MW. Older projects will remain at the £3,000 per MW amount.
The two turbines at Ysgellog will generate £13,800 each year for the local community. Over the 25 year operating period of the wind turbines, the amount totals £465,000. GrantScape has been working with local representatives to establish a local Community Advisory Panel who will help decide how grants will be allocated from the Fund.
German based turbine manufacturer, Enercon, supplied the two turbines on site. The manufacturer has more than 19,000 wind turbines installed in over 30 countries. The main contractor on site was Raymond Brown Group who conducted all of the civil and electrical works on site.
Enercon’s renewable energy team is based in Bridgend, Wales; the business has been in operation for almost 60 years. The company has extensive experience in delivering the design and construction of civil engineering and electrical works for projects ranging in value from £50,000 to £10 million throughout the UK.
The Co-operative Bank financed the Ysgellog Farm Wind Farm project and has helped finance more than 80 renewable energy projects across the UK. In 2007 The Bank committed to lend £1bn to renewable energy initiatives and the £7 million deal for Ysgellog forms part of this. In the first half of this year the bank has almost tripled its lending to renewable schemes, lending £232m. In the same period in 2011, the bank lent £79m to completed projects.
UK power purchaser and supplier of independently generated electricity, SmartestEnergy, is the power supplier to this development. It purchases power from 650 independent generation projects from across the UK, including blue chip industrial companies such as Atkins Power, British Sugar and Viridor Waste Management.
SmartestEnergy supplies companies with renewable CHP to customers including Marks and Spencer and Toyota Motor Manufacturing. The company also delivers renewable power from a variety of technologies, and tracks this from source to supply using renewable energy guarantee of origin certification.
The Wales Green Energy Awards were organised by RenewableUK Cymru with the aim of celebrating the achievements of the green energy industry in Wales across seven categories. Winners were chosen by an independent judging panel including David Clubb, Director of RenewableUK Cymru, Lee Waters, Director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs, Chris Kelsey, Environmental Editor at Media Wales and Rita Singh, Director of Policy at Cynnal Cymru.
