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Contracts have been signed by Bristol City Council for two wind turbines on the former Shell oil tank site at Avonmouth.
The council will be the first local authority in the UK to fully own and develop a wind energy project of this scale with profits from selling the electricity generated going to finance other ‘green’ and community projects.
Work is expected to begin on site in early March with the producing power from October. The two, 3 megawatt (MW) turbines a
re being built by Nordex UK, part of the giant German Nordex wind energy group.
A typical onshore turbine in the UK, rated at 2 MW, produces 5.256m units of electricity each year, equal to 5,256 MWh – enough to meet the average annual electricity needs of 1,000 homes and prevent the emission of 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
They will be roughly the same size as the three turbines operated by the Bristol Port Company at nearby Avonmouth Docks.
Mayor George Ferguson said: “This is just the type of bold energy project that Bristol should be pioneering. We will be our own green electricity producers, saving taxpayers money and reducing our carbon footprint. The project is a further step in our ambition to become Europe’s Green Capital City.”
Council energy manager Paul Isbell added: “This is a major achievement for the council. A lot of hard work has been put into this project to get the initial idea into a reality. A number of obstacles have had to be overcome along the way but this time next year there will be two turbines producing over 20% of the council’s current annual electricity use including street lighting.”
Contractor Alun Griffiths has been appointed to undertake the civil and electrical works.
