Paul’s Hill Wind Farm consists of 28 turbines located southwest of Elgin and 15 km west of Charleston of Aberlour. The project construction commenced in January 2004 and the wind farm started full operation in May 2006. The turbines are Siemens 2.3 MW (state model) and the site has a nameplate capacity of 64.4 MW. The rotor diameter is 82 meter and the height of the towers is 58.5m. The wind farm is connected to the electrical grid system via 33kV underground cables to the SSE plc (Scottish & Southern Energy) substation in Moray.
| Type | Wind |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| No. of turbines | 28 |
| Location | Nr Elgin, Morayshire, IV30 8SN |
| Type of turbines | 2.3 MW Siemens CS |
| Installed capacity | 64.4 MW |
| Operational since | 2006 |
24/7 monitoring & maintenance
The turbines are maintained under a contract with Siemens. Each turbine is monitored 24 hours a day seven days a week and any maintenance are carried out by specially trained and qualified technicians. As well as maintaining the turbines for safety and energy production the on-site team are responsible for monitoring the local ecology such as water tables, stream water quality and maintaining the natural plant and animal life around the wind farm.
The power is sold under a long-term PPA (power purchase agreement) with Eneco. Paul’s Hill is able to provide electricity generation equivalent to the consumption of 35,000 homes on an annual average basis.
Community
Paul’s Hill wind farm has established a community benefit fund as part of its ongoing commitments to communities in the vicinity of the wind farm. The purpose of the fund is to enable communities to carry out improvements to their local area in ways that benefit the local environment, local amenities or tourism.
Whilst we build and operate wind farms we also focus on reducing the impact on local communities and the area’s ecology. Each year the wind farm allocates an amount of money to local community groups in the area, which administers its disbursement to the community.
Consideration will be given to all types of project which benefit the local community and permission to proceed will be granted for ideas which successfully fulfil the aims of the scheme. If you are seeking funding for a project in the local community please e-mail communities@fredolsen.co.uk to find out which community groups local to you receive funds from Paul’s Hill wind farm.