North West Premier Construction

Constructing Heysham South Wind Farm

Heysham South Wind Farm, north Lancashire
Written by Roma Publications

Heysham South Wind Farm, north Lancashire

Work to erect turbines at a new wind farm in north Lancashire is underway.

For the last four months of 2014, renewable energy firm Banks Renewable, part of the Banks Group, has been carrying out preparatory work on the site of the £11.7 m Heysham South Wind Farm, which is located approximately 1km to the south east of the town.

The crane that is being used to put the scheme’s three turbines in place arrived in the area in early January and the first components came through the Port of Heysham shortly afterwards.

The crane and components were brought from the Port to the Heysham South site via the A589 and A683.

One turbine is being delivered and erected per week, with commissioning and testing work to follow before the wind farm becomes fully operational in late spring.

Between ten and fifty people are being employed at any one time during the site preparation and construction phases of what is Banks’ sixth onshore wind farm.

Contracts have been awarded to a number of firms across the area for different elements of the site development work, including Lingwood Security in Heysham, Kendal drainage contractor John Thacker, Morecambe Metals skip hire, Pye Motors and Milnthorpe fencing contractor M D Hannafin.

A related community benefits fund worth at least £250,000 across the 25-year lifespan of the wind farm will enable Banks Renewables to deliver a range of community and environmental improvements in partnership with local people, to help ensure tangible, long-term benefits result from the company’s presence in the area. The fund will go live once the wind farm begins to generate renewable energy.

Miles Crossley, senior business development manager at Banks Renewables, said:

“Work on the Heysham South site has progressed well, despite challenging weather conditions at times. We looked forward to getting into the construction stage of the project.

“We’re fulfilling our promises of creating new jobs and commercial opportunities for local firms through this project, and it’s very helpful to us to have a range of relevant expertise across the area on which we can call.”

Miles added:

“Carefully designed and sensibly-sited onshore wind farms such as Heysham South will be central to producing the energy that we all use over the coming decades, and alongside the clean energy they produce, they also bring direct employment, economic and community funding benefits to the areas in which they’re located.

“We will continue to liaise closely with local residents and communities to keep them up to date with what’s happening in and around the site, and hope to have the Heysham South turbines turning as soon as we can.”

 

For further information on the Heysham South Wind Farm, please visit: www.banksgroup.co.uk/heysham-south.

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Roma Publications