This lovely town of Cardigan here in west Wales already has a
strong reputation for its home-grown community enterprise initiatives and this week I am
working on the launch of a major new development – locally-owned energy
generation.
The Awel Deg/Fair Wind cooperative is proposing to set up a single
wind turbine on land above the Teifi estuary at Ferwig.
The aim is to provide for some of the electricity demand in the district and to create income to fund other sustainable energy projects in
the area for the benefit of the whole community. The group wants the Cardigan
area to become as self-reliant in energy as possible by creating a range of locally-owned
renewable projects.
At the moment about £20,000 leaves
Cardigan every week in electricity bill payments – and most of that money ends
up in Spain. Awel Deg’s project is the first step on putting that money back
into the local economy.
And shareholders in the project, mostly
local we hope, will get an excellent return on their investment.
Awel Deg has close links with 4CG -- the community enterprise company based in Cardigan, with over 600 local shareholders -- which owns the Pwllhai centre and car parks, the former police station and the old courthouse.
The directors
of 4CG fully share Awel Deg’s aims to bring maximum value to the local economy
from community ownership of renewable energy schemes.
The initial proposal, now being
discussed locally, is for a turbine to be installed at Bryn Farm, Ferwig, which
will generate electricity for around 300 local homes over one year. The plan
is for a 500kw turbine, with a height to hub of 45m; 67m to blade tip.
The organisation wants to raise the investment
needed to install the turbine – about £1.25million -- from the sale of shares
to local people. As well as earning a good return on their investment shareholders
will have a say in which future community energy projects should be developed.
A planning application for the proposal
will be made in a few weeks.
 | |||||||
| At the community wind turbine site at Bryn Farm, Ferwig, with landowner Huw Jones, right, are members of the Awel Deg/Fair Wind cooperative, including Dave Gillam, Sarah Wright, Liz Rodgers, Brian Mark and 4CG chairman Shan Williams. |
Awel
Deg chairman, David Gillam, said: “We hope that the Bryn Farm Ferwig Community Wind Turbine will be
a small step on the road to a greener future for the Cardigan district. This
area is blessed with huge potential for renewable energy generation from wind,
hydro, tidal, biodigesters, and so on. The income from our turbine could
help to unlock some of that potential so that in future all our electricity
needs are met locally.
“With
this income Awel Deg could also support other initiatives that lead to a more
robust, sustainable local economy in which we all share the benefits from
renewable energy.
“But
it is up to people locally, the town council, people in Ferwig, Ceredigion
councillors – what do we all want to see happen here? All around the world
people are saying this is the only realistic future for the planet, our
children, our grandchildren so I believe we should do it here too!”
More information on the website: www.aweldeg.co.uk
see also: www.4cg.org.uk/
and here's a link to a similar project in Scotland, that is already up and running:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QtvyrQHJQE
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