Cynog
to open first
community wind turbine
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Cynog
to open first
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Become a member of ecodyfi We want everybody in the Valley to join, so it only costs £1. Drop into Ty Bro Dyfi or send some stamps. The information centre is open Monday to Friday between 10.00 and 3.00. You might even like to get involved in staffing it or in helping to run a project. Please come and see us!
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One of Cynog Dafis' last acts as an Assembly Member will be to switch on the UK's first community-developed wind turbine.On Saturday April 5th electricity from a Dyfi Valley community group's own turbine will start to power the Centre for Alternative Technology. The wind turbine is owned and managed by the 59 share-holding members of Bro Dyfi Community Renewables Ltd. It is the first turbine in the UK to be built with such local control. The idea for the project was born three years ago at a meeting in Pantperthog Village Hall and local people did all the development and construction work. In the end the share issue was so popular that the maximum investment was reduced from £20,000 to £1,000 so that everybody who applied could buy some. The group was supported by ecodyfi (the community regeneration group) and by Powys Energy Agency. Between them they secured grant-aid from the European Regional Development Fund, the Energy Saving Trust and the Scottish Power Green Energy Trust. The single 75 kW wind turbine stands at the edge of a forest, on land made available by Forest Enterprise near Machynlleth. CAT will buy all the power generated (around 163 MWh each year). It will use about half of this to supply its site with electricity and hot water and export the rest to the local grid. The electricity generated will slow climate change by preventing the release into the atmosphere of 70 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. The group will also be promoting energy efficiency and intends to save an additional 345 tonnes of carbon annually by reducing local energy use. The inaugural event is open to the community. The group will create a party atmosphere up the hill to celebrate and describe the achievement. Anybody wishing to attend should phone ecodyfi on 01654 703965 for details. The wind group's Co-Chair, Vicky Leaney lives in Pantperthog. "It's taken a lot of effort, but it's great to see that we can take energy production into our own hands like this, to fight climate change and strengthen the local economy."
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