Pitts Down Farm Turbine
Cornwall

Project

Case study

Type:
Farm Turbine

Status:
Operational

Owner:
Foresight

Trev/Toby - can you come up with a couple of lines of text. Similar idea to Campfield but different/unique to Pitts Down?

Turbine

The project uses an EWT DW54-500kW direct drive wind turbine, with a rotor diameter of 54m and a maximum tip height of 79m.

500

Maximum generating capacity is 500kW

Landowners

The land for the turbine is leased from Rosevallon Estate, the owner of Pitts Down Farm. A second landowner is involved for the grid connection.

2014

Commissioning

The turbine entered commercial operation in September 2015 and is expected to generate clean electricity for 25 years.

Overview

Pitts Down Farm turbine is built on agricultural land adjacent to the B2287, around 3km to the east of Tregony in Cornwall. The project comprises a single EWT DW54 turbine and has generating capacity of 500kW.

Timeline

A planning application for the project was submitted to Cornwall Council in December 2013 and consent was granted in September 2014.

The project was accredited for the then Feed-In Tariff scheme in September 2015 and acquired by AGR in xxx 2016. Construction immediately followed and commercial operations began in July 2016. The project was acquired by Foresight from AGR in yyy [Toby/Trev - can you figure out the details?]

Community

Toby/Trev? We'll need to change the title to something other than Community and figure out something else to write about here... Same will also apply to Pitts Down, Orrell and Bellevue. Though I see there was supposed to be a community benefit fund of £5k/MW/yr...

Location

50° 17′ 03″ North, 4° 52′ 18″ West

The impact

What is being delivered

Thousand kWh/year

On average, the wind farm generates around 1.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year. Enough charge 75 electric cars every day.

Based on a rolling average load factor of 36.1% to November 2024 and DESNZ Subnational Electricity and Gas Consumption Statistics statistics showing that annual GB average domestic household consumption is 3,239kWh (updated January 2024).

Homes powered

The output from the wind farm is enough to meet the electricity needs of 480 average UK households.

Based on a rolling average load factor of 25.4% to November 2024 and an electric car battery capacity of 58kwh (as found in a Tesla Model 3 or VW ID3).

Hours

In strong winds, the wind farm can generate enough electricity in just over six hours to power an average UK home for an entire year.

Based on DESNZ Subnational Electricity and Gas Consumption Statistics statistics showing that annual GB average domestic household consumption is 3,239kWh (updated January 2024)

Tonnes of CO2 saved a year

The CO2 emissions saved by the wind farm are equivalent to planting 27,000 trees, or to removing 460 cars from the road.

Based on:

DESNZ's “all non-renewable fuels” emissions statistic of 437 tonnes of carbon dioxide per GWh of electricity supplied in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (July 2024) Table 5.14 (“Estimated carbon dioxide emissions from electricity supplied”)
DfT's NTS0901 statistic (August 2024) of an average diesel car covering 8,300 miles per year and manufacturer's published emissions data for a VW Golf 2.0 TDi of 115g/km
EcoTree estimate that a typical tree absorbs 25kg CO2 per year