RES - Powering Tomorrows World....  
 
   
     
Embargo: Tuesday 30 September 2003
     
  Contact: Anna Stanford, Media Officer: +44 (0)1795 536667 or +44 (0)776 1103465  
     
 


FIRST WIND TURBINE FOR THE M25:
MOTORISTS WILL SEE CONSTRUCTION TODAY

  
   
 
PHOTO CALL:
Erection of the wind turbine will take place during the morning of TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER, from 9am until approx 2pm

Location: RES Head Office, Egg Farm Lane (off Station Road), KINGS LANGLEY, Hertfordshire WD4 8LR (see Notes for directions)

Motorists using the M25 today (Tuesday 30 September) will have their journey brightened by the sight of a wind turbine being built next to the motorway near Kings Langley in Hertfordshire. It will be the first wind turbine visible from the M25, Britain’s busiest motorway, and will generate pollution-free power for a new environmentally-friendly office development for wind energy company Renewable Energy Systems (RES).

The 50 metre high turbine will be erected during the morning, when a 160-tonne crane will install the turbine tower in two sections and will then lift the three-bladed rotor to the top of the tower. The turbine is one of several renewable energy technologies being installed at the site, formerly the Ovaltine Egg Farm. Wind power, solar panels, five hectares of energy crops and a seasonal heat store will provide all of the office’s heat, cooling and electricity, and send surplus power into the local grid for use by homes and businesses.

Dr Ian Mays, Managing Director of RES, said;

“The wind turbine will be enhance the view of the 170,000 motorists that use the M25 every day. It is a great advertisement for wind power, showing that it is an attractive, economical and sustainable source of energy. It will also demonstrate that wind turbines work in harmony with all aspects of the landscape.”

The new head office is a refurbishment of the old Ovaltine Egg Farm in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire. The 1930s Arts & Crafts buildings - a local architectural landmark - have been refurbished using state-of-the-art sustainable building techniques and high standards of energy efficiency. The project is nearing completion and RES plans to move in during November. The turbine will start generating power into the local electricity network shortly after installation next week.

ENDS

Notes to Editors
1.

The wind turbine is a Vestas V29 model with an installed capacity of 225kW, enough to supply electricity to the RES head office and 40 local homes a year. It has a hub height of 36 metres and a rotor diameter of 29 metres, giving a tip height of 50.5 metres.
2. The wind turbine received planning permission from Three Rivers District Council in 2002.
3. The farm was originally built in the 1930s by Ovaltine, the manufacturers of the famous malt drink. It has lain derelict for many years. The site area totals 7.8 hectares and is visible from both the M25 London Orbital Motorway and the West Coast Main Railway Line.
4. Renewable Energy Systems group (RES) is one of the world’s leading wind energy companies. Part of the large British construction group Sir Robert McAlpine, RES has been at the forefront of development of the wind energy market for twenty years and now has offices across the UK, Europe and North America. To date, the RES Group has built over 775MW of wind energy capacity, including the 280MW King Mountain wind farm in Texas - at the time the world’s largest wind farm. More recently, projects have been completed in Northern Ireland, Scotland, France and the Pacific Northwest of the USA. RES has over 6,000MW on its books at various stages of development around the world.
5. . For more information on wind power in general, visit www.bwea.com or call the British Wind Energy Association on 0207 689 1960
6. Directions to the site: Leave the M25 at Junction 20, then take the exit off the roundabout signposted Kings Langley (A4251). At the next roundabout, turn right onto Home Park Mill Link Road. At the T junction at the end of this road, turn left onto Station Road. 200 yards along the road on the right (opposite Roman Gardens) is a concealed entrance that takes you under the railway bridge and along Egg Farm Lane to the old Ovaltine Egg Farm. Follow the signs to the site of our new head office. A map can be faxed on request.
CONTACT:

Anna Stanford, Media Officer, RES Ltd +44 (0)1795 536667 (w) or +44 (0)776 110 3465 (m)
Email: Web site:


 
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