£40 million solar plant network could appear in UK
May 28, 2010 at 1:26 am
The West Country could be about to witness something of a solar-power revolution over the next few years. It’s just been revealed that a potential £40-million project is near to getting the go ahead, which would see 10 solar stations being built over Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the next few years.
If the project goes ahead in its entirety it will see the UK’s solar power treble, which will be a major achievement in the government’s aim to continue increasing the amount of energy the country gets from renewable resources.
The first site to be built will be a 15-acre site in the north of Cornwall near to St Kew. If this gets planning permission then it should start generating power by as early as April 2011. It is billed as a 2MW facility, which means it would produce enough electricity to power up to 600 homes. Public consultation will begin soon for the first site.
The company in charge of the scheme, Benbole Energy Farm (BEF), is working with the Renewable Energy Cooperative to get everything up and running. The project coordinator, Jon Vidler, is quoted in The Cornishman as saying Cornwall is the “optimum environment” for the solar power stations.
On top of the solar power being generated, the farm will also be growing biomass crops and will have an anaerobic digester working in order to increase the amount of power being generated by renewable means. If all 10 farms get the go ahead then this could lead to an extra 300 jobs being created.
EDF to tackle problem of swan strikes
May 20, 2010 at 10:59 am
One of the UK’s largest energy providers, EDF Energy Networks, has recently demonstrated that big businesses do care about wildlife and are willing to spend some of their profits safeguarding the lives of wild birds.
Following a number of swan strikes earlier in the year, EDF engineers have been working in Cambridgeshire to fit “bird diverters” to a kilometre-long stretch of overhead power cable between the villages of Haddenham and Earith Bridge near Ely.
Bird diverters are brightly coloured devices designed to make it easy for poor sighted birds, such as swans, to spot the potential hazard and take action to avoid them. Not only can the birds injure themselves or actually be killed but these strikes cause problems for consumers with interruptions to the power supply.
The project will cost EDF £3,000 but, according to Michael Seamark, an EDF field engineer, it is money well spent both for the swans and EDF customers.
In 2008 Darren Frost of Cambridge Ecology Ltd published a report on the efficacy of flight diverters on the number of mute swans being killed near the Abberton Reservoir in Essex. Deaths were reduced from 30 to 1 following the installation of 500 diverters by EDF on a one-and-a-half kilometre stretch of power cables.
EDF has a close relationship with the Swan Sanctuary in Surrey and Dot Beeson, the owner, praised EDF’s response to the problem.
Members of the public who see an injured swan are advised to contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999 or the Swan Sanctuary on 01932 240790, giving as much information as possible on the location and the condition of the bird. Alternatively EDF can also be contacted on 0845 6014516.
