technology and construction

By completing the repowering, we expect the site will generate up to three times as much electricity. The existing turbines will be decommissioned and replaced with a similar number of new, larger turbines.

The planned new wind turbines will have a minimum lifespan of twenty, achieving an estimated CO2 saving of at least 1.3 million tonnes over their lifetime (based on a calculation of 0.43kg of CO2 per KWh).

Delabole has a very good wind resource and taller turbines will benefit from the stronger winds that are found at greater heights. When the wind’s speed increases two times, its energy content will increase eight times.

A turbine with a larger rotor diameter will catch more energy because they have more swept area to act on the wind. For the mathematically minded, the relationship between radius and area is a square so a small increase in radius has a proportionally large effect on area swept.

Our aim is to start and complete the construction in summer when the wind speeds are lower and the days are longer, dryer and warmer. These conditions provide the safest working environment and will enable us to complete the project in the shortest amount of time.

The turbines will be installed on concrete foundations, with the towers, nacelles and blades lifted into place using cranes. Electrical cables between all of the turbines and the control building are likely to be buried underground and run alongside the access tracks to keep ground disturbance to a minimum.

We will use local construction resources where possible, which will benefit local businesses and minimise the amount of construction traffic on the local road network.

Currently, there are access tracks that service the existing turbines and while these can form the basis of access for the proposed work, it is possible that some new access routes will have to be created. The EIA will state what new access roads may be needed.