Ice cream and nuclear get wind boost

WIND turbines are being constructed to provide energy for two very different sectors.
 
BAM Construction is weeks away from completion of a major development on the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Rotherham for the University of Sheffield.
 
The scheme includes the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which opened in October, and the Knowledge Transfer Centre.
 
The Nuclear AMRC will be used to develop techniques to allow UK manufacturers to provide key components for nuclear power stations around the world.
 
Combining the experience of industry with the skills of universities, the advanced facility is being powered by a 99m tall wind turbine.
 
The turbine will generate electricity to power the facility, and feed any excess to the National Grid.

BAM project manager Nick Howdle said: “The turbine is the first of its kind in this country. Within six years it will have paid for itself and any electricity sold to the grid after that time will be pure profit.”
 
Meanwhile, West Yorkshire dairy farm and ice cream producer Yummy Yorkshire is installing a wind turbine which it hopes will provide all of the electricity needed to power the farm.

Delph House Farm in Denby Dale is a 250-acre dairy farm. The farm has been processing and bottling its own milk since it was established in the early 1960s and is currently managed by Jeremy Holmes and his father Philip.

Mr Holmes plans to install a 50-kilowatt wind turbine at the site and recoup his investment within 10 years.

He said: “We’re in a windy spot here at Delph House Farm and I’ve been looking into the possibility of using a wind turbine for several years to reduce our carbon footprint and boost our income.

“Farmers’ incomes and margins have eroded over the past 10 years and as a dairy farm, our electricity bill is particularly big. The savings we could make on this, plus the income potential means the turbine is a relatively straightforward way to securing a viable future for us.

The £250,000 turbine has been funded with a loan from the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (AMC), facilitated by Carter Jonas which specialises in providing farm and rural finance.

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