Please note that this archived page was last updated
in November 2008 and reflects the status of the project at that
time.
Background to the choice of turbine for Parham Wind Farm
On 6 July 2006 the Council approved planning application
C/05/0400 for the 'erection of 6 x 100m high turbine wind farm and
associated infrastructure development' on land forming part of the
former Parham Airfield, now largely in agricultural use. Follow the
links below for information about the original application:
Whilst the planning permission did not specify a particular wind
turbine (to allow for an open tendering process) the Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) was based upon the use of a Bonus 1.3MW
turbine with a hub height of 69m and blades 31m in length from hub
to tip. Condition 6 of the planning permission required the overall
height of the turbines not to exceed 100m and the blade length not
to exceed 31m unless prior to their installation the Council had
consented to longer blade lengths.
The applicant, Parham Airfield Wind Farm Ltd, was not able to
procure the Bonus 1.3MW turbine and have had to look at other
manufacturers. Enercon have a range of turbines that the applicant
indicated could be available at reasonable notice. It had initially
been the intention to use a larger turbine, the Enercon E70 and the
developer applied (application C/07/0862) to increase the size of
the turbine blades to 35.5m.
Details of alternative turbines
The applicant is considering a range of turbine options
and is currently seeking approval to use either the
Enercon E53 or the Siemens SWT-1.3-62 (formerly the Bonus 1.3).
Details of these turbines are set out in the documents below:
Noise assessments
The Enercon E53 turbines will be 73.25m to hub with 26.5m long
blades. The Siemens SWT-1.3-62 turbines will have 31m blades
and a hub height of 68m. The developer has submitted noise
projections that show that these turbines would meet all the
conditions of the original consent. Both will meet Government
ETSU noise limits and the tighter levels imposed by the Council
within condition 10 of the planning permission.
Noise assessments - predicted turbine noise and background noise
versus wind speed for the Enercon E53:
Shadow flicker, visual impact and energy production
In terms of shadow flicker Enercon E53 has less impact than the
Siemens SWT-1.3-62. The level of electricity generated by the
Enercon E53 will be 4.8MW as opposed to the 7.8MW of
the Siemens SWT-1.3-62 turbine proposal. The advice in PPS 22
'Renewable Energy' is that such small scale projects have a
valuable contribution to make to overall renewable energy
production that is a material consideration of significant
weight.
Photomontages of Enercon E53
Please note that the photomontages are quite large
files. We recommend that you download larger files to your computer
rather than try to view them in your web browser. Follow this link
for help
with downloading and opening PDF files.
Other impacts of the revised specification
The method of construction, transport routes, impacts on
drainage, ground water, TV interference, archaeology, ecology,
heritage, public access and other impacts identified within the EIA
will not be materially changed by the revised turbine
specifications.