POWER FOR GOOD

WIND ENERGY IN NORTHUMBERLAND

Northumberland has an excellent wind resource. There is strong planning guidance for the area which set out targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and installing renewable energy generation. 

With its established engineering skills, particularly in the offshore sector, and the region's excellent natural resources, the North East's reputation as a UK hub for renewable energy technology is growing.

At the regional level, the North East Assembly is responsible for setting out broad-scale plans for the area, through the Regional Spatial Strategy (July 2008), which provides a framework for the development of the Region through to 2021.

"Tackling the Impacts of and Adapting to Climate Change" is listed as being one of the Key Challenges of the RSS, which goes on to say that "...it is now a national policy priority that preventative action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the likely impacts of climate change. Preventative measures require increased efficiency of energy and resource use and a shift to more renewable energy production. Adaptation measures will need to recognise the increased risk of extreme weather events such as flooding, drought and sea level rise".

The RSS then goes on to say that "The RSS recognises that climate change is the single most significant issue that affects global society in the 21st Century. Although climate change can occur for a variety of reasons, scientific evidence indicates very strongly that recent change can be attributed to the influence of human activities, particularly global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from fossil fuel energy use".

Climate change is an issue of particular concern to the North East, as the effects could have significant impacts on many aspects of life in the region.

The North East England Climate Change Adaptation Study, published by Sustaine in 2008, projects climate changes across the region to the 2050s. Key findings from those projections show that the projected climate impacts will threaten human health, our quality of life, economic activities, biodiversity, soil and water resources, landscape and agricultural land uses. For example:

  • increased flood risk, from rivers, flash flooding, and rising sea levels
  • increased likelihood of storms and other severe weather events that may affect buildings, transport
  • infrastructure and business activities
  • changes in the growing season, affecting biodiversity and agriculture
  • changes in winter and summer temperatures and the patterns of rainfall, affecting agriculture,
  • forestry, biodiversity, tourism and leisure
  • changes in suitability of habitats for plants and animals, with some areas becoming less suitable
  • for existing species, and the possibility that new species will move in as conditions change.

As part of the RSS' proposed move towards increasing renewable energy production, the Strategy sets out ambitious targets for renewable energy production in the North East.

Policy 39 (Renewable Energy Generation) states that:

Strategies, plans and programmes, and planning proposals should:

a. facilitate the generation of at least 10% of the Region’s consumption of electricity from renewable sources within the Region by 2010 (454 MW minimum installed capacity);

b. aspire to further increase renewable electricity generation to achieve 20% of regional consumption by 2020;

c. facilitate the achievement of the following minimum sub regional targets to 2010:

  • Northumberland 212MW
  • Durham 82MW
  • Tyne & Wear 22MW
  • TeesValley 138MW
  • TOTAL: 454MW

The target for Northumberland of 212MW equates to approximately 80-100 modern turbines. It is expected that this target will be doubled for 2020.

Unfortunately, at the current pace of development, Northumberland is unlikely to achieve more than 40MW of renewables by 2010.

It is therefore more important than ever that projects like Park Head Wind Farm are built as soon as possible, if we are to produce home-grown, clean energy, make a positive contribution to the fight against climate change and reap the benefits of a low-carbon economy.