Council plans to generate up to £400,000 of local income through innovative wind energy programme.

Rochdale Borough Council has announced plans for the next phase of its innovative wind energy programme which could deliver up to £400,000 of income each year to help protect front line services.

Following the success of the council’s pilot wind project at the site of the former Hill Top School in Kirkholt earlier this year, two further sites suitable for wind energy development in the Hopwood Hall area are now being taken forward.

Each project consists of a single 500kW wind turbine up to 77m in height and together the two projects could generate enough energy to power 527 homes[1] every year, [equivalent to 10 per cent of the homes in the Hopwood Hall Ward[2]].

Rochdale Borough Council is at the beginning of the planning process and will be inviting the local community to attend a public consultation event in September. The aim of the event is to introduce the community to the development and its potential benefits, to describe in detail the planning process that they expect to go through, and to present the initial results of survey work that has been completed to date.

Councillor Cecile Biant, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Regulation of Rochdale Borough Council, said: “As well as leading the way as a ‘green’ authority, these turbines will help bring in revenue for the authority in tough economic times when fuel bills are on the rise.

“These wind turbines represent a fantastic opportunity to use the area’s natural resources to generate an income for the council to help deliver essential front line services at a time of financial challenge.”

Each year the council uses 27.5GWh of electricity to power buildings and offices. The 2012-2013 cost was £2.8m, excluding street lighting and leisure sites. Its annual Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) tax bill in 2013/14 was £272,000. As part of the Greater Manchester Climate Change Strategy, the council has agreed to a 48 per cent CO₂ emission cut by 2020. Rochdale Green Action Plan is the council’s overarching sustainability strategy.

By harnessing the area’s natural resources Rochdale Borough Council, working in partnership with ASC renewables, could generate new multi-million-pound revenue streams, fund municipal services, put land assets to work, underwrite energy security and offset soaring energy prices, as well as fulfil its renewable power and carbon reduction obligations.