About the project
British Waterways owns land around the Boddington Reservoir in Northamptonshire and is working with Partnerships for Renewables to explore the feasibility of generating renewable energy on this land. 
After conducting a full EIA, we believe the site to be suitable for a single wind turbine, with a maximum blade-tip height of 122m.
A planning application has now been submitted to Daventry District Council. For further information please click here.
The scheme would require some 1.11 hectares of land and would include the erection, 25 year operation and subsequent decommissioning of a wind energy development comprised of the following elements: one wind turbine with a maximum overall height (to vertical blade tip) of up to 122 metres, together with new access track, temporary works, hard standing area, control kiosk, cabling and a widened vehicular access from Boddington Road.
If a single 1.5MW wind turbine is developed at the Boddington Reservoir site, it is anticipated that it could generate 3.28GWh of renewable electricity per year, which is equivalent to the amount of electricity used annually by 713 average households, and could displace approximately 1,412 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.[1]
[1]
The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (2010) gives 2009 domestic electricity consumption as 122,543 gigawatt-hours (GWh) (http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/statistics/source/electricity/dukes5_1_2.xls) which, when divided by the number of households in the UK - 26,625,800 (http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/statistics/publications/ecuk/269-ecuk-domestic-2010.xls (table 3.3) - gives an average electricity usage of 4,602 kWh per year per household (122,543,000/26,625,800 = 4,602). Taking into account the candidate turbine for the site, it is expected that the single proposed 1.5MW turbine could generate 3.285 GWh of renewable electricity per year (based on a capacity factor of 25%). These figures are derived as follows: 1,500 kW (1 x 1.5 MW turbine) x 8,760 hours/year x 0.25 (capacity factor) = 3,285,000 kWh. Based on the 4,602kWh household figure from Section 6.4.1, and the predicted electricity generation of 3.285GWh, it is estimated that the yearly output from the wind energy development will be equivalent to the approximate domestic electricity needs of 713 average households in Britain.
In September 2008, the Advertising Standards Authority endorsed a figure of 430 gCO2/kWh, based on the assumption that the energy generated by the wind turbines displaces Combined Cycle Gas Turbines and an average mix generation (430 gCO2/kWh). On this basis, and on the assumption that the wind turbines annual output is 3.285 GWh, a wind energy development of this scale is expected to displace 1,412 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year being emitted to atmosphere. These figures are derived as follows: 3,285,000 kW (output) x 430 gCO2/kWh / 1,000,000 = 1,412 tonnes CO2
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