“Discussions regarding community benefit are held separately to any planning discussions taking place,” the document adds. Highland Council says its position is clearly stated on its website, with the entry reading: “Scottish Government planning guidance prevents this type of payment from becoming a condition of planning permission.”

Technology UK

Developers have abandoned plans to extend a controversial wind farm in Moray. EDF Energy put forward proposals to increase the size of 35 turbines planned for the Dorenell wind farm development on the Glenfiddich Estate, near Dufftown.

Technology UK

Poole councillor Tony Woodcock said although the consultation report mentioned clutter on radar displays at the airport, there was no clear mention of any effect on ships radar and navigational systems. He said there was no study of the effect of the blade noise carried ashore by prevailing winds and no mitigation for 1.2 million migrating birds.

Technology Impact on Views Offshore Wind UK

The decline in the output of offshore wind farms, based on a study of Danish wind farms, appears even more dramatic. The load factor for turbines built on platforms in the sea is reduced from 39 per cent to 15 per cent after 10 years. ...Overall performance of wind farms in the UK has deteriorated markedly since the beginning of the century.

Technology UK

“This study confirms suspicions that decades of generous subsidies to the wind industry have failed to encourage the innovation needed to make the sector competitive. Put bluntly, wind turbines onshore and offshore still cost too much and wear out far too quickly to offer the developing world a realistic alternative to coal.”

Technology Impact on Landscape UK

But environmentalists insisted a "shocking lack of research" had been carried out as to their actual effectiveness in built up urban areas. It prompted Leamington-based company Encraft to launch the Warwick Wind Trials in 2006, in which a total of 23 home owners who had paid for a turbine had their energy producing levels monitored.

Technology UK

Around 20GW of planned wind farms globally face objections from air traffic controllers because turbines interfere with radars near military bases or airports. Turbines can reflect radar waves, appearing on radar screens as 'clutter' in an unpredictable and confusing way.

Technology Safety UK

Others may be concerned about health issues but he said his major concern deals with the financial impact of these energy producers, especially considering taxpayers will have to pay back the funds borrowed from China for Obama’s stimulus plan.

Technology UK

Fallago Rig wind farm developers, North British Windpower, have hit back at what they call "emotional media posturing" by those opposed to the development.

Technology UK

The Solway Firth is at the centre of £500 million proposals to build a mile-long dam between England and Scotland fitted with energy-generating turbines, the Sunday Herald can reveal. The proposed tidal barrage, subject of a £60,000-£100,000 feasibility study commissioned by Scottish Enterprise, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Northwest Regional Development Agency (NRDA), would stretch over the River Solway from Annan in Dumfries & Galloway to Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria.

Technology Energy Policy UK

The world's two most powerful wind turbines, with blades up to 500ft in diameter, are to be built on the Northumberland coast in clear view of northeast England's most renowned shorelines. ...The two machines are planned to be up to 650ft high, including their blades. At that height they would be more than 200ft taller than the current tallest turbines in Britain. ...Each could generate up to 7.5 mega-watts of power.

Technology UK

Research which could transform worldwide production of large-scale wind turbines is being carried out at the University of Nottingham. Peter Schubel is leading a £1.4m project called Airpower which could make it eight per cent cheaper and 11% faster to manufacture the blades. ...Dr Schubel said large-scale blades were extremely labour intensive to produce under current methods - with up to 35 people at any one time working on a single blade. This also means there can be high levels of waste because of human error.

Technology UK

Britain's first mobile wind farm could be built off the Scottish coast under an ambitious plan to stop turbines blighting the countryside by mooring them miles out to sea. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is in talks with Blue H, a Dutch company, to build a floating turbine platform that would be anchored to the seabed between Skye and the Uists. If the pilot scheme is successful, dozens more could be sited off the Scottish coast, thanks to new technology that allows turbines to be moored in waters up to 1,000ft deep. The new generation of turbines - which resemble small oil rigs - can be towed so far out to sea that they cannot be seen from the shore. ..."We want to get this technology working because Scotland's continental shelf drops off very quickly and we have very limited potential for shallow offshore wind. ..."

Technology UK

Turbines shuddering to a halt across the region in heavy winds are yet another flaw of wind power, opposition groups claimed last night. The structures cease to operate when wind speeds reach a certain level and do not generate electricity. Many wind farms shut down at 55mph, and some at 33mph. Figures released by the Met Office show that in February wind speeds reached 91 miles per hour in Newcastle, 79 mph at Boulmer, near Alnwick and 77 mph at Albemarle in Northumberland. But operators of wind farms in the North East have confirmed that with these strong gusts, there have been occasions when their turbines have been brought to a standstill.

Technology Safety UK

A cable that brings power ashore from an offshore windfarm has failed and needs to be replaced in the spring. E.on, the firm that owns Scroby Sands windfarm two kilometres off the Norfolk coast at Caister, said one of its three high-voltage cables had failed. This means that if the wind turbines are working at full capacity only 66% of the power can be brought ashore. E.on's other off-shore windfarm at Blyth, Northumberland, is also awaiting repair after a sub-sea cable broke. ..."As we move forward we learn how the equipment interacts with the environment. That's part of the learning process. A statement to the BBC released on behalf of energy minister Malcolm Wicks, said that off-shore windfarms were an emerging technology and that subsidising and investing in more was not a waste of money.

Technology UK

Home wind turbines are significantly underperforming and in the worst cases generating less than the electricity needed to power a single lightbulb, according to the biggest study of its kind carried out in Britain. An interim report revealed that homeowners could be being misled by the official figures for wind speeds because they are consistently overestimating how much wind there is - sometimes finding that real speeds are only one third of those forecast. In the worst case scenario, the figures indicate that it would take more than 15 years to generate enough 'clean' energy to compensate for the manufacture of the turbine in the first place.

Technology UK

Plans to build the country's biggest wind turbine off the Northumberland coast are set to be approved by councillors. If approved the project will see seven new turbines on the north site of the River Blyth to replace the existing Blyth Harbour wind farm. Six of the turbines will tower 125m from base to blade tip while the seventh, planned for the Battleship Wharf site at Cambois, would measure a total of 163m in height - the country's biggest to date. ...Blyth Valley Borough Council has already said it will not object to the project. The turbines will be more than three times bigger than the current structures and much more powerful.

Technology Zoning/Planning UK

Volume house builder Barratt Developments has published preliminary findings from its experimental ‘eco village’ project in Chorley, Lancashire – a 15 month long test of how effectively ‘green’ technologies can be incorporated into new homes. ...wind turbines were judged ‘disappointing’. Both the 1.7m and 1m turbine performed below the theoretical available output based on the recorded wind speed throughout the trial period. Simple payback period analysis has not been carried out.

Technology UK

report into the handling of a planning application to build Lincolnshire's biggest wind farm has been released. Planners at East Lindsey District Council made a catalogue of errors in dealing with the 20-turbine wind farm at Conisholme. It was first refused and then later approved by East Lindsey District planners in 2005.

Technology General Zoning/Planning UK

Rising high above the water, the two gleaming white structures look like an outsize art installation. But they have a more practical purpose: Each is a giant wind turbine, part of a British project that could prove a breakthrough for wind power around the globe. Among the dwindling oil and gas fields of the North Sea, Britain has built the world's biggest wind turbines -- each has blades longer than a football field -- in the Moray Firth, a large inlet off the rugged east coast of Scotland. What's unusual about the effort is its dimensions: While existing offshore wind projects tend to be in shallow waters close to the coast, the Moray Firth venture is expected to culminate in the first offshore wind farm in deep water (150 feet) far from land (15 miles). ...So far, even in Scotland, offshore wind is in its infancy. There are only 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind-power capacity installed globally, with Denmark, the world leader, accounting for about a third of that. Britain, with 400 megawatts, is in second place, but has big ambitions.

Technology General UK