Wind Direct sales of green power to large energy users
Repower UK -- a joint venture between German wind turbine manufacturer Repower Systems and British engineering company Peter Brotherhood -- has secured its first toehold in Britain with an order for a single wind turbine for Cambridgeshire in the east of England, an area of relatively low wind speeds for the UK. The 2 MW machine with an 82 metre rotor span will be installed on an industrial estate near the town of March. The contract comes six months after Repower teamed up with Peter Brotherhood with the eventual aim of manufacturing its turbines at the company's Peterborough site. From Repower UK, managing director Henning von Barsewisch welcomes the order after only a short presence in the British market. He says it shows that the joint venture with Peter Brotherhood is "viable." The customer for the turbines is a new company, Wind Direct, a joint venture between veteran project developer Wind Prospect, grid connection engineers Econnect and energy services consultancy Optimum Energy. Wind Direct was set up to develop wind projects on sites owned by large energy users; it will carry out all development work and will own the turbines, while the on-site consumer takes the output under a long term power purchase agreement. Both parties will share in the green benefits from the project -- such as income from sales of renewables obligation certificates and exemption from Britain's climate change levy. The March turbine will be the first project built by Wind Direct and has been developed in collaboration with the owner of the industrial estate, Snowmountain Enterprises. Martin Alder from Wind Direct says: "We intend this to be a template for small wind energy projects across the UK delivering green energy direct to commerce and industry in the most cost effective and environmentally efficient way."