The key objective of SHOCK is to try to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, through reductions in energy use and the generation of renewable electricity. As a key first step it was decided to develop a proposal to erect a community owned wind turbine, to generate clean electricity for the parish and use any profits from this scheme to promote the other objectives.

An application for a 225kW wind turbine was submitted to the local planning authority on 29th October 2007. If you would like to view further information about the application, you can do this electronically by clicking here

Or you can write to: Planning, NSDC, Kelham Hall, Newark Nott's NG23 5QX quoting reference 07/01578/FUL

Anyone wanting to invest in the project can email sustainablehockerton@yahoo.co.uk

Background Information

General

Hockerton Housing Project (HHP) members, in particular Simon Tilley, have played a key role in facilitating and advising SHOCK. HHP itself already meets most of its energy needs from two small on site wind turbines (Proven 6kW and Iskra 5kW) and a 7.6kW photovoltaic array. This energy generation is secondary to the highly energy efficient standards of the homes, that only use 10% of the energy of a typical UK home. The aim with SHOCK is to broaden sustainable principles to the wider community.

SHOCK objectives

As well as reducing energy use & energy generation, SHOCK is also interested in other aspects of sustainability, including; reduced impact from travel and waste, increasing the amount of self sufficiency in water, and raising the awareness of sustainability issues through education. It is also hoped that this will lead to an increase in the use of local skills and resources.

Wider context

Assuming planning approval is gained and a turbine erected it is hoped that this will be a ground breaking scheme in England and so will attract media and community interest from around the country raising the profile of the district. It will also give other groups a practical example to copy; hopefully catalysing the fight against climate change in this area.

The government has initiated a program requiring all new homes to be built to a zero carbon standard by 2016. One of the implications of this will be that these homes will have to have all their energy supplied from renewable sources. A community owned turbine in Hockerton should go along way to achieving this target for our older houses well before the 9 year dead-line.

Wind turbine

Location

To establish the available sites in the Hockerton Parish for a single wind turbine a map was created and distributed. The high ground with an open aspect to the South West is advisable to catch the wind. This indicated land near the north boundary of the village to be a preferred location. Care was also taken to ensure that any site was at least 500m from any property (well in excess of Government guidelines). Once such a site had been found, with support from the landowner, this location was circulated to all parish properties on a leaflet and an open meeting held. This location was agreed as a suitable location. The site is about 1km from the next nearest village and sympathetically sited away from the neighbouring parish boundary.

Local support

A wind turbine is a potentially contentious solution so it was felt a survey of parish residences was necessary to clarify the situation. This was conducted in February 2007 with about a quarter of the village residents responding of which 28 supported the idea and four were against. The majority of those in favour were also interested in financially investing in the wind turbine. It was therefore agreed to develop the proposal further towards a full planning application.

What turbine

A second hand Vesta V29 turbine from Denmark (225kW rated) is envisaged for this site. The wind turbine is a three bladed (29m diameter), up-wind machine mounted on free standing tower. The hub height of 31.5m is necessary for the turbine blades to be out of the turbulence of the ground and any surrounding trees etc.
However the availability of such turbines is unpredictable and so the actual turbine cannot be definitively known.

Power Generation

The objective of the wind turbine is to generate the equivalent amount of clean electricity that the homes use in the Hockerton parish. In summary it is estimated that the:

- Domestic consumption is 275 MWh per year.
- Turbine production would be 330 MWh per year
- Carbon dioxide equivalent saving of 176 tCO2 per year

Other notes:

(1) Estimated energy generation depends greatly on wind speed. The estimated figure comes from the DTI wind speed data base, 6.0 m/s for the application site at 25m height. The rating of the turbine is 225kW - this is the maximum output power. The average generating power will be less depending on the wind speed. This average power has been taken into account in the calculation of the figures above.

(2) Income - The electricity would be transported via the "National Grid" which means the electricity will be sold to a power company; Good Energy Ltd is envisaged. The income generated will be distributed to investors who can then use this money to pay their electricity bill from the power company.

(3) As this application does not relate to a commercial development of five or more turbines (Ref: SPG Wind Energy, July 1999, page 3) and is not more than 29m in diameter (Ref: SPG page 5) it is assumed that a formal Environmental Impact Assessment is not required, but can be considered against the criteria set out in Newark & Sherwood District Council's supplementary planning guidance for wind turbines.

(4) Noise -This is a relatively small, geared turbine so will produce minimal noise.

(5) Analysis of shadow flicker has been made and shows that there is no possibility of shadow flicker to local properties.

(6) TV signals - An assessment has been made of the potential effects of interference with household reception of TV signals using the BBC tool. A survey was carried out of local transmitters and households using them to clarify the report. Based on this survey an analysis of the potential effects of the turbine was made, it is predicted that there will be no significant negative effects on reception.

(7) The visual impact on the environment has been assessed. Locally; its impact could best be determined by comparing it to the current turbines sited at Hockerton Housing Project (HHP). Those turbines are of similar height 26m so give a good idea of the visual impact the tower will make. The blades are longer than the HHP turbines; here comparison can be made by looking further-a-field at the Wood Green Animal Shelter; Godmanchester turbine. This is a very similar turbine to the one proposed for Hockerton.

(8) Energy balance - The energy produced by a wind turbine throughout a 20-year lifetime (in an average location) is 80 times larger than the amount of energy used to build, maintain, operate, dismantle, and scrapping it again. Therefore on average it takes only two to three months for a wind turbine to recover all the energy required to build and operate it. (Source: Danish Wind Turbine Manufacturers)

(9) Guidance - Resources and help with the details of the proposal have come from Hockerton Housing Project Trading Ltd, Nottingham County Council, EMRA, the CRI and other bodies.