RWE npower renewables has been working with renewable energy consultants TNEI to investigate the feasibility of building and operating Stobhill Wind Farm on a site 5 kilometres south of Bishop Auckland, south west of the A68.

The project has been the subject of investigations over the past few months and we are now keen to present our plans to local residents. A final proposal is still some way off as investigations continue but we would like to give the local community as much information as possible at this early stage.

We are proposing a wind farm of up to six wind turbines. The predicted annual generation at the site has been calculated using a capacity factor derived from performance data for wind farms already operating in England. Should site wind and turbine characteristics result in a similar capacity factor to these operational sites we can expect Stobhill Wind Farm to generate an amount of electricity equivalent to supplying the approximate domestic needs of an estimated range of between 4,800 and 7,300 average UK households each year.^¹

This is more than all the homes in the parish of Shildon.^²
If constructed, the wind farm would make a valuable contribution towards the UK's renewable energy supply and the Government's current target to supply 15% of the UK's electricity from renewable energy sources by 2015. Onshore wind farms are vital in meeting these challenging targets and helping the UK make its contribution to the European effort to tackle climate change.

Footnotes

1. Energy predicted to be generated by the proposal has been calculated using an assumed capacity factor of 26% (DTI Energy Trends UK regional capacity factors 1998-2004), and is based on an installed capacity of 10-15 MW. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent or emissions savings figures may change as site specific information is gathered.

Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4700 kWh, which is derived from a total UK domestic electricity consumption of 117.589 terawatt-hours (TWh) (The Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2005) and 25.2 million UK households (Mid-year Household Estimates published in 2004 by the Office for National Statistics).

2. Total number of households in the Parish of Shildon is 4,701. According to the Office for National Statistics and based on all households in the area at the time of the 2001 Census www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk