Member Article

Largest UK installer continues expansion with 500th turbine

The country’s largest installer of small scale wind turbines has hit a milestone and a UK first by installing its 500th turbine, building a fleet with a capacity of 2.5MW of which over 2MW was taken from site contract to generation during 2012.

Staff from Windcrop celebrated the triumph, securing them as firm market-leaders among all FiT registered sites, with a customary glass of champagne under the site of the 500th turbine, at the home of Anthony and Pat Hargreaves in West Yorkshire.

The landmark turbine also represents the company’s first northern installation, having expanded from its headquarters in Norfolk into both Yorkshire and Cornwall, tripling its workforce.

Managing director and founder of the business, former Lotus engineering commercial director, John Moore, said: “We are delighted to be celebrating this milestone for Windcrop and the small wind industry.

“From our Norfolk start-up with two systems in 2009, our current fleet of 500 will generate around 80GWh of electricity during their 20-year life. Each system will save the site owner around £500 a year in electricity and this will rise as electricity prices increase in the future.

“As well as helping people in tough economic times, Windcrop’s existing turbines will save the environment from an estimated 46,000 tons of carbon dioxide by 2033 by replacing fossil fuel resources and due to our unique installation method we have already saved more than 1,500 tons of CO2 by using helical piles instead of concrete.”

Smallholder Anthony Hargreaves, 75, and his wife Pat, 73, were the happy customers to have the 500th, 5kW turbine erected at their 16-acre farm in Silsden, West Yorkshire.

The couple, registered small-holders of horses, dogs and chickens, are estimated to save more than £340 off their bills each year and reduce their carbon footprint by saving 90 tons of carbon dioxide over the next 20 years.

Windcrop provides a complete energy package, from an initial site assessment and securing planning permission through to installation and maintenance of its turbines for the full 20-year period.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Lane .