Avonmouth Wind Turbines Project

Overview

In January 2009, the Energy Management Unit gained planning approval to build two wind turbines in Avonmouth. The web cast of the planning committee can be seen here:

www.bristol.public-i.tv/site/player/pl_compact.php

The wind turbine development will demonstrate:

• good use of council owned land;
• a flagship development by the council, setting a good example;
• a meaningful contribution to the city council's targets for installed capacity, (at present demand for renewable electricity far outstrips supply);
• active promotion of a sustainable energy future for Bristol and its communities;
• a good project for Avonmouth generating green energy in an industrialised setting.

The size of turbines to be installed at the site will be subject to a formal tender process. However, permission has been gained for turbines with capacity of up to 3 MW each. Considering turbines in the 2 - 3 MW range, Garrad Hassan estimates that the annual energy production of the scheme will be between 9.6 GW/annum and 12.6 GW/annum. This annual production equates to meeting the electricity needs of between 2,000 and 2,700 ‘average’ households¹.

¹ A typical turbine generates 4.7 million units of electricity each year, sufficient to meet the average annual electricity needs of 1,000 homes and prevent the emission of 4,000 tonnes of CO₂ - equivalent to taking 1,333 cars off the road, (Ref. British Wind Energy Association).

A pre-planning public consultation attracted over 250 responses to the survey. Thank you to all of you who gave your views, and for those who attended the public events. Your views were valuable in helping us to prepare the planning application for this project. The analysis of these is detailed in the Statement of Community Involvement, which formed part of the planning application.

Explanatory video

The three wind turbines currently in operation at the Bristol Port Company in Avonmouth are not Bristol City Council's, but are owned and operated by Ecotricity.

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