ScottishPower and Co-op to build wind farm

The Co-op announced yesterday that it is to make a modest entry into the renewable energy business with a wind farm on one of its estates in East Anglia. The move comes at a time of debate about the contribution renewables can make to Britain's energy needs, with environment groups bitterly divided over plans for a huge wind farm on the edge of the Lake District in Cumbria. The Co-op has teamed up with ScottishPower to erect eight wind turbines on one of its farms at Coldham, Cambridgeshire

The scheme is Scottish Power's first south of the border. When complete later this year, the new scheme will generate enough power for 10,000 homes. The Co-op estimates that the energy it will produce would require the release of 35,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year if generated by conventional means. "The Co-op owns land and has farmed land for the best part of 100 years," said Graham Ramsbottom, the Co-op's head of rural property. "Like all landowners, we are looking at ways of generating return from our holdings and we think this is a very good way. "We can continue to farm and at the same time have an alternative income generated from the land. "Sustainability also fits very well with the Co-op's values and principles - we bought 100% of our electricity on the UK mainland from renewable sources last year. We have the support of the local community, which proposed the site we are using."

The Co-op won planning permission in 2003, but has taken until now to find a partner with which to develop the wind farm as a joint venture. It says the scheme is a "natural progression" in its relationship with ScottishPower. It is now looking at developing other schemes on land it does not own. "But we have not gone for really big wind farms where you bypass the local planning system," added Mr Ramsbottom. Vestas Celtic based in Campbelltown, Argyllshire, will manufacture the turbines for Coldham, which will be commissioned later this year. ScottishPower already generates 158MW of wind power and has a further 127MW of capacity in construction, enough to provide power for 160,000 homes. The company plans to invest £1bn in UK wind farms by 2010, producing more than 1000MW of electricity.