Westmill Wind Farm, Watchfield, Oxfordshire
| Sun, 3 Feb 2008 00:00 Mr Blue Sky |
On Friday 1st February 2008 the last of the five wind turbines that comprise the wind farm was completed. They are expected to start power generation some time before the end of February. Construction of the wind farm started in August 2007 and by Thursday 24th January 2008 the groundworks necessary had been finished and the first turbine was put up that day. The site is open and flat. For those reasons it was selected for a wartime airfield and between 1939 and 1946 it was used mainly for pilot training. After closure the site reverted to agricultural use and there are very few signs of its brief life as an airfield in contrast to, say, RAF Broadwell Planning permission for the wind farm as it now exists dates to October 2004 when an earlier permission for a smaller farm was superseded. Funding for the farm has in part been raised by the sale of shares in an industrial co-operative society. In May 2007 the deposit for five Siemens 1.3 MW wind turbines was paid. The life of the project is 25 years. Basic facts: Tower height: 49 metres Blade length: 31 metres Power output: 5 x 1.3 megawatts maximum Output begins at a windspeed of between 3 and 5 metres per second at the hub The output is sufficient to provide power to about 2500 homes. It is clearly visible from the high land south of Swindon to a distance of at least 17 kilometres away. The images that follow were taken between 24th January and 1st February 2008. Each of the images is linked to the next so start anywhere and you will see what is in effect a slideshow.                 Westmill Farm website Much of the information on the web about RAF Watchfield is anecdotal. This story is typical. http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2002/3/13/193938.html (I would treat the reference in it to the bombing of Coventry with caution). |
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