LOCAL BENEFITS
At each wind farm site we design, construct and operate, our goal is to ensure that we create significant environmental, economic and community benefits at the local and global scale.
Wind farms primarily bring benefits at regional, national and international scales, helping to meet targets to reduce pollution (particularly CO2) and produce cleaner, "home-grown" electricity.
However, RES is particularly keen to see local communities benefiting from wind farms and for this reason, we offer significant community funds which allow local people to benefit from the wind farm's profits. It is up to the local community as to how the funds are managed and spent, and this is something which we will be consulting on in the coming weeks and months.
Park Head Wind Farm will generate a yearly community fund over the 25-year life of the wind farm (with the amount being index-linked).
This money could be managed by an existing charitable trust, or parish council (or group of parish councils), or an entirely new independent trust could be set up to manage it. The precise mechanism will be identified through consultation. We generally prefer that the money is used to bring local environmental benefits and we are particularly keen to see it spent on improving energy efficiency, but ultimately this will be down to the local community to decide. The people who benefit the most from the fund should be those living closest to the wind farm.
Community funds around RES's existing wind farms.
Community funds are operating successfully at other RES wind farms in the UK. For example, at the Altahullion Wind Farm in Northern Ireland, the fund has been spent on the creation of a new community riverside pathway and footbridge, entertainment activities for family fun days, summer schemes for local children and the maintenance and running of community buildings.
Economic Benefits.
The construction and operation of our wind farms have a positive effect on the economy. In the longer term, wind farms create positive benefits through landowner rentals, farm diversification and employment of maintenance staff.
In the short term, it is our policy to use local firms where practical during the construction phase (usually around a year), when short to medium-term jobs will be created and we will be looking for local and regional businesses that can provide the following people, services and materials:
- Civil engineering
- Haulage
- Concreting
- Security
- Electrical skills
There will be knock-on benefits for other businesses in the area too, such as hoteliers, B&Bs and catering companies.
Social Benefits
Our operating wind farms attract interest from locals and visitors alike and are a useful educational resource, assisting in raising awareness of climate change and clean energy solutions among the local and wider community. In particular, RES holds site open days and engages with schools and young people, organisations and professional groups to help to help raise awareness of the role of wind energy in tackling climate change.
RES is also keen to explore other options for local social benefits. For example we have provided financial support for local groups and we hope to support a green tourism initiative at one of our planned sites. Other ideas which can be explored may involve supporting community energy efficiency actions or small scale renewable energy initiatives such as micro wind turbines, solar panels and wood fuel heating for schools.