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First turbines mark milestone at £30m County Durham windfarm

The first five turbines at what will be the North East’s largest wind farm development have taken their place on the County Durham skyline.

Regional developer Banks Developments is investing in building the £30m, 12-turbine West Durham Wind Farm on land near Tow Law.

Once it is fully operational, the scheme will provide enough renewable energy to power around 15,700 households. The construction process is expected to be completed by April, with full energisation of the scheme scheduled for the summer.

Rob Williams, Renewables Projects Director at Banks Developments, said: “Investing in renewables infrastructure like this will not only help make ‘green’ energy easily available to homes and businesses in the North East, but also helps to demonstrate the evolution of Banks as a business, from what began in Tow Law in 1976 as a surface mining company to a 350-strong organisation which operates successfully across a range of sectors and which has become a major player in the UK renewables market.

“Once operational, the West Durham Wind Farm will enable County Durham to achieve the targets for zero carbon generation they were set in the regional planning strategy, making them the only North East county, and one of only a handful of places across England, to do so.

“We’ve had a lot of support from local people and community leaders for this project, and are pleased to be playing a part in cementing Tow Law’s growing reputation as an energy generation centre.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .