The Delabole wind farm was the first commercial onshore

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...

built in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, in November 1991. This field of

wind turbines A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

was initially developed by Windelectric Management Ltd.

Location

Delabole Delabole ( kw, Delyow Boll) is a large village and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated approximately two miles (3 km) west of Camelford. The village of Delabole came into existence in the early 20th-century; it is ...

is located in north

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England, UK, about two miles west of

Camelford Camelford ( kw, Reskammel) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed by ...

. It has the third highest elevation of the villages in Cornwall sitting at making it an ideal place for turbines. The farm is pastoral land, away from the village of Delabole and away from the

Celtic Sea The Celtic Sea ; cy, Y Môr Celtaidd ; kw, An Mor Keltek ; br, Ar Mor Keltiek ; french: La mer Celtique is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Ireland bounded to the east by Saint George's Channel; other limits includ ...

. The United Kingdom is the windiest landmass in Europe, receiving over 40% of the continent's wind annually.

History

The farm was first proposed by landowners Peter and Martin Edwards in 1989, and was opened in 1991. They chose to invest in the turbines, instead of a nuclear power plant, in the hope of pushing the UK in a greener direction. It took three months of construction to build the site and less than a month to commission the turbines. In its first year, the Delabole wind farm brought in 100,000 visitors who were able to look around the turbines freely on tourist walks.

Gaia Energy Centre

In 2001, there was an attempt to attract 150,000 tourists annually to this wind farm by building the Gaia Energy Centre. It was supposed to promote and educate the people of Cornwall about energy conservation and the benefits of renewable energy. Inside they had an auditorium, café and shop, as well as interactive exhibits and a resource library. Most of the funding for the £5 million Gaia Energy Centre came from Europe, with £300,000 grants from Objective One and the South West Regional Development Agency. It closed down just three years after opening since less than a tenth of the projected visitors actually came.

New ownership

Although the Gaia Energy Centre was unsuccessful, the farm continued to stay in production. Since 2002, the farm has been owned and operated by

Good Energy Good Energy Group PLC is a British energy company based in Chippenham, Wiltshire that provides services in the electrification of transport and decentralised renewable energy generation such as domestic solar panels. The company is also an energy ...

, whose goal is to make the UK 100% renewable by 2050. For its first two decades, it operated ten 400 kW WD34 wind turbines, built by

Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Uni ...

. In August 2010, these ten turbines were decommissioned to make way for better technology. In February 2011, an £11.8 million rebuilding of the facility was completed, which replaced the original ten with four new

Enercon Enercon GmbH is a wind turbine manufacturer based in Aurich, Lower Saxony, Germany. It has been the market leader in Germany since the mid-1990s. Enercon has production facilities in Germany (Aurich, Emden and Magdeburg), Brazil, India, Canada, ...

E-70 turbines standing at 98

meters The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

, which are three times larger. The funding came from a £9.6 million loan from the Co-operative bank and £2.2 million equity from Good Energy's own resources. After the rebuilding, the facility has a potential power output of 9.2

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...

, an increase from the original four megawatt output. In the beginning of 2013,

started offering a 20 percent discount on energy bills to the residents living within two miles of the wind farm. According to

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, the projected savings is £110 annually, where the average national household payment is about £550. Also, if the turbines produce more energy than expected, local customers can receive additional savings.

Turbines

The introduction of the German

E-70 turbines prevent the release of 13,708 tons of

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...

into the atmosphere annually. The amount of energy the new turbines produce is enough for over 7,800 homes, whereas the previous turbines only could provide energy for 2,700 homes.

Vestas WD34 features

* 400 kW output * Three blades sweeping a total area of 908 m² * Tower height: 31 m * Rotor diameter: 34 m

Enercon E-70 features

* Each turbine has a capacity of 2.3

* Tower made of a steel tube and concrete * Tower Height: 98 m * Rotor Diameter: 71 m * Gearless, with variable speeds ranging from 6-21

revolutions per minute Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

(rpm) depending on the strength of the wind * Each blade is adjustable * An upwind rotor, in which the rotor is in front of the tower when the wind hits the turbine * Three blades around the rotor made of GRP (

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or cured end products of epoxy resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide functional group is also coll ...

resin) that move in the clockwise direction, sweeping a total area of 3,959 m² turning the annular generator * The brake system of the turbine includes: # Three independent pitch control systems with emergency power supply # A rotor brake # A rotor lock

References

{{Wind power in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Cornwall Wind farms in England Economy of Cornwall