Yorkshire’s largest wind farm wins approval

GOVERNMENT approval has been given for the largest wind farm in Yorkshire.

Lawyers at Hammonds in Leeds helped their client E.ON Renewables win permission for the proposed 22 turbine Tween Bridge wind farm.

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks has given the go-ahead for construction and operation of the wind farm, located near Thorne in South Yorkshire.

When built, the 66 mega watts generating farm will be the largest in Yorkshire, and will generate enough clean energy to power up to 26,500 homes.

Paul Hunt, development manager at E.ON Renewables, said: “We're delighted with this decision as we believe Tween Bridge will help fight climate change by making a significant contribution to the Government's renewable energy targets.

“We're taking a leading role in the development of renewable energy in the UK and we currently have enough green power schemes in development to power more than one million homes, and to prevent the emission of two million tonnes of greenhouse gases every year.”

A seven week public inquiry about the proposed wind farm was held at the beginning of 2007. Hammonds was responsible for co-ordinating the preparation and presentation of evidence at the inquiry.

Planning partner Richard Glover led the legal team and was supported by solicitor David Walker. Both are based in Hammonds' Leeds office.

Mr Glover said: “We're happy to have assisted one of the country's leading green generators with this project, which will save more than 1.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.”

The wind turbines will be up to 125m to the tip of the highest blade. Work on the site is not expected to start before 2009.

E.ON operates 21 wind farms across the country and is presently building Robin Rigg in the Solway Firth which, when completed, will be one of the largest offshore wind farms in Europe.

Hammonds represents a number of wind farm developers as well as advising on many other major infrastructure projects including coal fired power stations, underground gas storage and overhead power lines.