We are planning a windfarm consisting of four turbines near Queniborough in Leicestershire.

The area being considered includes land to the south-east of Queniborough with Syston to the west, South Croxton to the east and Barkby to the south-west. Please see site boundary plan here.

Within ScottishPower Renewables there is a separate team who looks at site finding. They have mapped the UK in terms of the major constraints such as aviation, national and international landscape and ecological designations, and to determine whether there is available capacity on the existing grid network. The UK has also been mapped in terms of wind speed. This map can be viewed on the NOABL website. Within the areas that are still potentially available to be developed, landowners are then consulted. Once there is a possibility of a windfarm it is passed to the Project Development team and we look into the site-specific aspects such as ecology, cultural heritage, access, noise and visual aspects to determine whether the site is a viable and an appropriate option.

The proposed capacity was initially thought to be able to accomodate five turbine but taking into account the constraints that have been identified to date and the area of land available, a four turbine site is now considered to be more appropriate.  With a total site generating capacity of up to 9.2 megawatts (MW), this is enough clean, green energy to power approximately 4,278 homes. We are looking at turbine models in the region of 125m to blade tip.

As a general rule of thumb it is assumed that costs to build a windfarm are around £2 million per turbine at today's rate. This figure includes turbine manufacture, its delivery, its installation, as well as any infrastructure costs associated with the formation of any access tracks. It also includes for the energisation of the turbine, which would then allow it to export electricity to the grid. It is estimated that this cost is repaid within 4 to 5 years of operation.

The turbine manufacturers generally specify a turbine life of 25 years and therefore, within the detail of any planning application; we normally make reference to a 25-year operational life. We ensure that the timeframe requested for planning permission also covers the time required to construct and eventually decommission the site.

Why this is a good area for a windfarm:

• Good wind speed

• Choice of grid connection possibilities

• Accessible site

• Limited cumulative visual impact

• Not in a designated protected area