The site is owned by Hainsford Energy, who installed the original wind farm there in 1992. The new REpower 3.4M104 will be installed on land adjacent to the East Pier Port of Blyth near Newcastle in northern England and work on site will commence in spring 2012.
The original development was one of the first wind farms to be built in England. It consisted of 9 turbines each with a capacity of 300 kW, giving a total capacity of 2.7 MW. The new REpower 3.4 MW machine will produce more power than the existing nine turbines put together. A single wind turbine of this model can provide power for nearly 2,000 homes.
Charles Rose, director of Hainsford Energy, said; "I am delighted to be building the first REpower 3.4M104 wind turbine in the UK. Hainsford was one of REpower’s first UK customers. In 2006 we built the Caton Moor wind farm together. We are thrilled to have another first with REpower, with whom we have a deep and strong relationship based on the excellence of the REpower technology and customer service”.
“I’m extremely pleased to have sold our first 3.4M104 in the UK. Using larger capacity turbines like this means that onshore wind farms can be even more productive in relation to their size. I am also delighted to be continuing our long established relationship with Hainsford Energy,” said Rick Eggleston, managing director of REpower UK.
Hainsford Energy was one of REpower’s first UK customers, with a 16 MW repowering project at Caton Moor in Lancashire, completed in 2006. This will be their second project with REpower. This is the first phase of the repowering of the site and the development will eventually have 7 turbines and a potential capacity of 23.8MW.
Since its launch in 2004 REpower UK has delivered 36 onshore wind farms in Scotland, England and Wales and one offshore wind farm, Project Beatrice, in the North Sea. However, its largest offshore contract is currently underway, with the company currently commissioning the 30 REpower 5M wind turbines for Vattenfall’s Ormonde wind farm in the Irish Sea, with a total rated output of 150 MW.
[Inset: Original wind turbines installed by Hainsford Energy in Blythe ten years ago.]
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