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14
Nov 2021
Green Shoots: The Harrogate wind farm that powers 8,000 homes
COP26 has made it crystal clear that time is running out for the world to shift away from polluting fossil fuels and towards green energy.
Knabbs Ridge Wind Farm on the outskirts of Harrogate on Pennypot Lane. It's the only large commercial wind farm in the district and is at the forefront of tackling climate change locally.
Its eight turbines, which have mammoth 35m long blades, power around 8,000 homes with renewable energy.
The wind farm is owned by German energy firm RWE Renewables, and the Stray Ferret spoke with its site manager, Richard Couzens, about how Knabbs Ridge works and why it is so important.
Energy generation
Knabbs Ridge is designed to operate unmanned and includes complex computer systems that ensure the turbines run as optimally as possible.
It's maintained twice a year by engineers, which Mr Couzens described as being similar to servicing a car.
There's a weather station on every turbine, which will move to tell the systems which direction the wind is coming from.
Each turbine can generate up to two megawatts of power, which at full capacity would mean the wind farm could power the equivalent of 32,000 homes.
There may be times when you drive past Knabbs Ridge and the turbines are not turning, even on a windy day. Critics of wind energy say they are inefficient compared to other forms of energy generation.
This year 7% of the country’s energy mix came from wind, a steep drop from 2020 when it generated 25%.
Mr Couzens said Knabbs Ridge generates around 30% of its total capacity, which he said is normal for an on-shore wind farm.
Turbines move when the wind speed is between four metres a second and 25 metres a second.
Read more:
- Green Shoots: Knaresborough mum sells eco alternative to clingfilm
- Green Shoots: Why Harrogate should be at the vanguard of tackling climate change
Part of the landscape
Knabbs Ridge became operational in 2008 following a bitter battle with residents and Harrogate Borough Council who refused the plans in 2005.
The decision was overturned by the government's planning inspector who said the wind farm's green benefits outweighed its visual impact.
At the time, current Harrogate Borough Council leader and then cabinet member for planning Richard Cooper said the decision "flied in the face of common sense".
But back then the energy mix was still dominated by coal and the climate crisis was not a mainstream concern. Cllr Cooper has since become one of the council's biggest proponents of green infrastructure, highlighting how attitudes towards wind farms have changed over the last 15 years.
Knabbs Ridge is now largely an accepted, and for some, admired, part of the rural landscape.
Mr Couzens said:
Subsidies scrapped
Since Knabbs Ridge was approved, no other large wind farm has been granted planning permission in the Harrogate district.
In 2015 an application to approve a wind farm overlooking Almscliffe Crag was refused by HBC.
Then in 2016, David Cameron's government announced subsidies for on-shore wind farms would be scrapped, which has seen a sharp fall in new sites across the UK.
Mr Couzens hopes COP26 will help see wind power back on the agenda.
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