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.

Generation Capacity and Emission Savings

We are certain that the project will have no negative effects. It will, on the contrary, bring positive benefits to our environment and to the community.

The 18MW wind farm will:

generate pollution-free electricity equivalent to the needs of between approximately 10,000 and 13,000 homes every year, or 49 - 65% of West Devon's domestic power consumption.*
reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) by over 37,000 tonnes every year.
at the end of its life, the wind farm will be dismantled easily and quickly, leaving behind no polluting legacy.

The turbines and access tracks will take up only around 2% of the site area, with normal farming activities continuing undisturbed on the land. Wind power is a natural, home-grown and abundant source of energy. The Den Brook wind farm will help protect our finite natural resources and make our energy supply more secure, reducing the need to rely increasingly on imports of foreign gas and oil.

Benefits For Local People

It is our policy to use local contractors and employees wherever possible during the construction phase and we have already had a great deal of interest from civil engineering, transport and plant hire firms in the area. We plan to get stone for the access tracks and hardstandings from Meldon Quarry.

RES is in the process of setting up a community fund linked to the wind farm. This will generate £1500 per MW installed per year for the 25-year lifetime of the project, to be managed by the North Tawton Development Trust and spent on local community projects. This is one way of trying to ensure that local people will receive a direct benefit from having a wind farm in their area, on top of the clear environmental benefits to society as a whole.

Habitat Improvements For Flora And Fauna

In order to protect and enhance the local environment at Den Brook, we will be introducing various mitigation measures and improvements to the site that will create an overall net gain in conservation value. We have been working closely with ornithologists and ecologists to produce a Habitat Management Programme which will be implemented with the cooperation of landowners. Proposed measures include replanting of hedgerows on site (with native tree and shrub species), restoration of habitats and watercourse and woodland management. Where possible, existing tracks have been used for access routes and new grassland strips and vegetation habitats will be encouraged along all tracks, providing foraging areas for animals and insects. In addition, the timing of any work carried out will be planned so as to keep disruption to a minimum. Overall the improvements will provide many beneficial consequences for wildlife at Den Brook.

* This range is a result of using two different calculation methods. The lower figure uses British Wind Energy Association methodology and the higher figure uses a method recommended by the Advertising Standards Authority.