Oxford City Council to Host Commercial-Scale Wind Turbines

Published: 20/08/2009

Oxford City Council has become the first council in England and Wales to commit to having commercial-scale wind energy developed on its land by Partnerships for Renewables.

Partnerships for Renewables was established by the Carbon Trust in 2006 to develop renewable energy projects on public sector land and help deliver a thriving public sector renewable energy market.

It is hoped that this move will result in other local authorities across England and Wales taking proactive action to generate renewable energy and additional revenues on their land assets.

The council has unveiled a site near the Horspath Road Athletics Track, capable of hosting a single commercial wind turbine, as the first location that will be subject to detailed environmental and technical investigations. This work will be carried out over the coming year with the aim of submitting a planning application by 2011 if results of technical and environmental work prove positive.

Councillor John Tanner, Board Member for a Cleaner, Greener Oxford, said: “Wind turbines are a beautiful way of helping to tackle climate change with renewable energy. This Horspath site is a first for Oxford and a practical contribution to creating a Low Carbon city.

“The City Council owns the land, Partnerships for Renewables will pay for the development costs and we will receive an annual payment for the benefit of taxpayers and the community. At this stage we want to put up a test mast to see if the wind power is really there as we believe it is.

“Wind turbines are quiet, graceful and not a threat to wildlife. Compared to ugly electricity pylons wind turbines are a huge improvement for Oxford’s environment. The real threat to our countryside locally is not wind turbines but climate change.

“I hope everyone will support this wind turbine plan as a practical way of helping to save our plant. Both the City Council and Partnerships for Renewables are committed to ensuring that the local community is central to the development process.”

Stephen Ainger, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Renewables, said:”We were established by the Carbon Trust to help the public sector harness the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy development. We hope that the announcement today proves to be a major breakthrough in the pursuit of renewable energy generation on local authority land across England and Wales.

“The results of investigations to date suggest that the land owned by the council at the Horspath site could host a single commercial-scale turbine similar to that on the outskirts of Reading. Because there are a number of businesses and organisations in the vicinity of the site there is potential for the turbine to supply green electricity directly to them. We would be very happy to discuss this opportunity with local electricity users as part of our development work.”

Martin Kirk, Head of Oxfam's UK Campaigns, said: “Climate change is a major threat to people around the world - especially the world's poorest who are most vulnerable, despite being the least responsible. We are proud of our close links to Oxford and it is fitting that a city with a heritage of social responsibility and environmental awareness is now leading the way in developing practical solutions to the most serious of threats – climate change.”

Energy and Climate Change minister, David Kidney said: “We need a massive expanse of renewable energy on a local and national scale to ensure we meet our renewable energy target by 2020. Initiatives such as this are a great example of the positive attitude needed to deliver this together.”

Nick Rau, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: "It’s fantastic news that Oxford City Council has committed to use its land to produce energy from wind on a commercial scale.

“Our new campaign Get Serious About CO2 is calling for councils all over the country to cut their emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, and developing renewable energy locally will deliver a big chunk of that reduction.

“More local renewable energy sites like this will help avert runaway climate change and bring financial benefits to the community, while providing a far more secure energy supply than relying on imported oil and gas.”

Anyone wishing to find out more about the project can visit the project website at www.pfr.co.uk/horspath, email pfr@communityrelations.co.uk or call 0800 731 7395.

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