24 December 2008 11:30
E.ON invites residents to proposed Dumfries and Galloway wind farm exhibition

Energy company E.ON is holding a public exhibition on 15^th January in Newton Stewart to keep local residents informed about its plans to build a 10 turbine wind farm on land near to Ochiltree Loch.

The exhibition, which will feature details about the proposed 23MW wind farm, will take place at McMillan Hall, Dashwood Square in Newton Stewart between 12 and 7pm.  

Hayley Meadley, project developer for E.ON, said: "It's extremely important to us that we keep local people fully informed, which is why we are holding the public exhibition.

"I would urge anybody living within the area to come along to the exhibition and talk to us about the site and to find out why we think this is such a great location for a wind farm."

For local people wanting to stay in touch and informed about the site, E.ON has also launched a new email address - hillofochiltree@eon-uk.com - so local residents can send in any questions or queries that they may have about the site. A new web page will also be available on E.ON's website in the New Year.

The proposed wind farm would be located 13km north west of Newton Stewart, west of the A714.

If built, the Hill of Ochiltree wind farm could provide enough electricity to meet the annual power needs of over 12,800 homes¹ and displace over 25,500 tonnes² of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

Ends

Notes to editors

[1] Annual homes equivalent based on average domestic household consumption of 4.7 MWh
(DTI report on domestic energy consumption 2004)

² This figure is based on the Government's long term marginal plant figure of 430g CO₂/kWh. Although it is very difficult to predict the exact benefit of a wind farm development, we can be certain that over the course of its lifetime, green electricity from a wind turbine will offset large amounts of CO₂ that would have otherwise been produced if that electricity had been generated using fossil fuels such as coal and gas.

E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. We employ around 17,000 people in the UK;

• E.ON Climate & Renewables is E.ON's global renewables business responsible for large scale renewable generation and carbon sourcing projects - excluding large hydro.
• E.ON Climate & Renewables will be investing €6 billion Euros to 2010 on a range of renewable generation technologies and climate protection projects;
• We're one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 21 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. We also burn biomass material mixed with coal in two of our power stations and have recently completed one of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;
• Our green development portfolio could power over a million homes and displace the emission of almost two million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by building new onshore and offshore wind farms, biomass power stations, and tidal stream and wave power schemes;
• Our target is to cut the carbon released by each kW of electricity we generate by 10% between 2005-2012, having already reduced it by 20% since 1990;
• We have 1,300MW of renewable capacity under development;
• We are investing £50 million in new technologies and approaches over 10 years, through the Energy Technologies institute.

For more information contact:

Rebecca Mara on 02476 183 679

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