Please view the C&F news item in the Irish Times. Profits being made in the renewable energy sector.

We seem to spend a lot of time attending meetings of community councils and similar groups to put the case for renewable energy projects, either on behalf of our clients or as part of the voluntary work we do.  We often leave these meetings baffled by the mauling we have received from local residents who don’t see why they should have to look at wind turbines from their home, from anywhere nearby or even from their daily commute.  They spoil the landscape, we are told; they’re ugly, this is a conservation area, it’s an outrage!  But we are environmentalists, we respond; we are trying to protect the environment, to save the world.  Why do we perceive the negative impacts of wind turbines to be trivial when so many people find them so devastating?

A recent publication from the International Energy Agency might help at least to put our perspective into context:

IEA report: http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/

The IEA’s report is long, complex, technical and expensive but it is well summarised in a couple of Guardian articles:

“Worst ever carbon emissions leave climate on the brink” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/29/carbon-emissions-nuclearpower).

“World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/09/fossil-fuel-infrastructure-climate-change?newsfeed=true).

Together, these two articles report that, despite the global economic downturn, emissions of greenhouse gases are higher than ever, higher than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s worst-case estimates.  They also report that 80% of any remaining room to manoeuvre has already been used up by infrastructure already being built.  This means that, without drastic, radical and immediate action, it is now effectively certain that climate change will not be contained within any kind of manageable limits.  We can either sit back and hope that the governments of the world will somehow find the will, initiative and ability to address the crisis, or we can take responsibility ourselves, take action ourselves.  The world’s governments are still devoting all their energies to avoiding action, each refusing to act before everyone else acts and meanwhile opening up further areas for fossil fuel extraction.  They have proven consistently, time and again that they are not capable of doing this for us.  If anything is going to be done, we are going to have to do it ourselves.

UNEP report:http://www.unep.org/publications/ebooks/bridgingemissionsgap/Portals/24152/UNEP_bridging_gap.pdf

But surely a better solution would be to build off-shore, in Caithness, to promote energy efficiency, nuclear, carbon capture etc.?  There are always arguments for doing something else instead; these arguments are all fine, all good but it is not a question of making a choice: we need to do everything if we are to have even the slimmest chance of heading off climate change on a devastating scale.  It is not a question of which option to take, we need all of it and we need all of it now.  Another publication released by the United Nations Environment Programme in advance of the Durban summit shows how the “emissions gap” (between what will be achieved if we carry on as we are and what we need to achieve to avoid disaster) can be bridged.  Given enough commitment, this is achievable using existing technologies, provided everyone plays their part.  If everyone thinks it is somebody else’s problem then of course nothing will change.

The consequences of climate change, at a scale that is now all but inevitable, will be utterly devastating for the current generation, for our children, for the global economy and for the biosphere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming).  The consequences should we continue to bicker and delay will be even worse: sea level rise, extreme weather, disruption to agriculture, famine, mass migration and so on and on.  Have a look online at a handful of reputable sources: UNEP, IPCC, New Scientist, DECC.  Take your pick; browse for a while.  We environmentalists live with this every day; we stare these horrifying facts in the face, then we take a deep breath and try to do something about it.

So please try to have a little patience with us if we seem to think your concerns are trivial.  It’s not because we’re arrogant, it’s because to us they seem trivial.

C&F Green Energy are proud to announce the launch of their new 50, 75 and 100kW wind turbines; their most powerful machines to date. The launch of these machines marks an important moment in the company’s development. They have now invested close to €14m in developing a first-class range of products that will help the company to achieve market leadership in the UK and globally. C&F are the first manufacturer in the world to offer such a comprehensive range of machines, from 6kW to 100kW.

The main reason that planning applications are refused is because of lack of supporting information, not because of any breach of development policy. As a planning agent, we have to balance the demands of local authority planning departments against the needs of our clients, in particular the need to achieve a successful outcome for the least possible cost. Recently, various local authorities have published supplementary planning guidance for wind turbines which seeks to apply similar conditions to planning applications for any turbine with a hub height of 15m or over, whether it be a single 15kW turbine or a multi-megawatt wind farm. Clearly, this is ridiculous and we make every effort to ensure that our planning applications include all the required information and nothing more. Nonetheless, the trend toward increasing complexity continues and we are now regularly having to carry out cumulative impact assessments for single small turbine installations. We will continue to try to push down the price of planning applications but this is one service where it is very easy to pay too little and end up with nothing.

C&F recently issued to agents a copy of the interim testing report issued by Intertek for MCS product testing across the range (CF6e, CF11, CF15/e, CF20). This showed successful completion of all performance testing, with only some endurance testing remaining. If the wind continues to blow, testing should be complete in November, with full MCS product certification expected not long afterward. Mindful of the approaching deadline for implementation of the FITs review, several of our clients have decided to install foundations, cables and electrical connections now, in preparation for the announcement of full product compliance. With the site fully prepared like this, a turbine can be assembled, erected and commissioned in half a day, even in atrocious winter conditions. C&F offer a 100% money-back guarantee, covering all costs incurred, in the event that MCS compliance is somehow not achieved. But if you have seen the quality of these turbines, you would agree that’s hardly likely.

As soon as we have any update on the certification process, we will be posting it here and letting all our clients know.

We have not been updating the website much recently as everyone has been out of the office putting up turbines. As well as the three CF15s at Roscobie, we now have a shiny new CF20 at the office in Fife, there are three CF15s at Bogside, near Alloa, a single CF20 near Lonmay, a CF15 near Lauder and another at the new Carnegie Primary School in Dunfermline and over the next week two CF11s will be going up in Shetland and one in Lewis. If anyone would like to visit any of these turbines, please contact us in the first instance; you will always be very welcome to come and see (and listen to) our installation here in Fife and usually new turbine owners are only too happy to show off their new toys but these are private properties, so give us a call first so that we can check.

Working with the local community group, the Creetown Initiative, Ecodyn has been successful in gaining planning approval for a meteorological mast which has now been erected at Greenburn farm, just outside Creetown. This mast will be there for the next year, collecting data on wind speed and direction, which will be used to inform the next stages of the group’s wind turbine project. This data is essential to establish the local wind regime, so that we can calculate how much any proposed turbine would generate and therefore how much it would earn for the town.

 In response to recent significant increases in the cost of raw materials and inputs including steel, copper, magnets, and blades, C&F Green Energy will increase prices (RRP) from Monday 11/04/2011.

All existing projects will be unaffected and deposits received on all orders prior to this date will be subject to the original price.               

 Anyone putting a deposit on a turbine before 11^th April will be eligible for the lower price. 

As per usual, any deposit paid to C&F is fully refundable should planning or grid connection be refused.  Please contact Ecodyn for further details.

All our turbines come with a warranty covering parts, labour and performance but what if you’re up in the far north of Shetland and your turbine suffers a catastrophic breakdown in the windiest month of the year and we can’t get to you because the ferries are all tied up in harbour?  Chances are you’ve borrowed money to afford a turbine in the first place and you’re relying on the income to repay the loan.  We’ll fix it as soon as we can get there of course but you’ll still be out of pocket. 

Well not any more.  Ecodyn has teamed up with insurers Lycetts to provide C&F turbine owners with comprehensive all-risks insurance, including loss of income, so now you can rest assured that the money will keep coming in as long as the wind blows. 

Ecodyn is not an FSA certified insurance broker, so the actual insurance policy has to be arranged directly between the turbine owner and Lycetts but contact us in the first instance as we are able to get a bulk discount through referrals to the scheme.  Full terms and conditions on application.

We have successfully completed installation of the first three C&F wind turbines to be installed in the UK, at Roscobie Farm in Fife. The installation went without a hitch and the turbines are now up.  Unfortunately, Scottish Power put in the new transformer and mains connection then left before fitting a meter, so we will not be able to commission them until 8^th April, which is the earliest we can persuade them to return.