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Peel Energy, the company proposing to install up to 3 wind turbines on the dock wall at the Port of Heysham, has welcomed the feedback and opinions received through their recent public exhibition events.
Members of the community were invited to view plans and put their questions to the Peel Energy team. A range of information was on display, including photomontage images of how the turbines would look from various view points, and results from other completed and on-going environmental assessment work.
Over 150 people attended the exhibitions that were held across two days on the 20th and 24th June at the St James Centre, Heysham.
Results from completed questionnaires demonstrated knowledge within the community of the energy challenges facing the nation, with 80% of respondents stating that they were aware that the UK is heading towards a gap between demand and supply of energy, and therefore that there is a need to invest in new low carbon infrastructure.
The majority of respondents agreed with the principle of installing wind turbines on a site that has existing industrial operations.
Likewise, the majority of respondents agreed with locating wind turbines at coastal locations where there are high wind speeds that can help meet our energy needs.
Patrick Keogh, Peel Energy Development Manager, stated:
“We are grateful to those that took the opportunity to attend the events and we re keen to maintain this open and constructive dialogue with the local ommunity as the application progresses.
We recognise that some local residents may have reservations about the roposal, and this is to be expected with any new development, but we have onfidence in the findings of the environment and technical studies that are howing just how ideal the port really is for wind energy generation.”
The Port of Heysham Wind Farm, with a capacity of up to 9MW, would be esigned to have an operational life of at least 25 years and could generate nough electricity to meet the average needs of approximately 4, 600 homes half of the households in Heysham. The scheme would provide an conomic stimulus for the port and further strengthen its osition as a local employer.
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