NEWS


Turbines taste sweet for food giant Nestlé


E.ON gets planning permission for wind farm


from the local community. We look forward to working closely with the council and residents going forward." The site is located approxi- mately 11km north east of Carsphairn and 12.3km south west of Sanquhar The Project Scope now involves up to 15 turbines presenting a potential total power of up to 49.5MW. In the UK, E.ON’s wind farms produce enough electricity to power 700,000 homes. Since investing in the first


Nestlé, the world’s largest food and drink company,


has opened a new wind farm at Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The farm, developed in partnership with energy business Community Windpower, is made up of nine turbines which, combined, are now producing around 125 GWh of power per annum. That is enough to supply half the annual electricity demands of all Nestlé’s UK and Ireland operations. Each year, enough electricity to power 30,000 homes will


be delivered back to the National Grid, meaning that Nestlé is now contributing directly to the de-carbonising of the UK and Ireland’s electricity supply. The National Grid interconnects electric power undersea from the UK to Ireland, meaning that power from Nestlé’s new wind farm could contribute to powering Irish homes and businesses. Stefano Agostini, CEO of Nestlé UK and Ireland, says:


“I’m proud that Nestlé is doing the right thing and directly contributing to the reduction of carbon here in the UK and Ireland. We all have a part to play in reducing climate change and its effects while making sure that we safeguard our planet’s future. We already use 100% renewable, grid supplied electricity across all our UK and Ireland operations, but now with the opening of Sanquhar wind farm, we can supply half of our own energy here in the UK and Ireland. I’m delighted we not only using 100% renewable electricity to run our business here in the UK and Ireland, we are now responsible for producing it too.” Rod Wood, Managing Director of Community


Windpower, says: “Nestlé are leading the way procuring a UK source of green energy directly from our latest Scottish wind farm. “CWP’s long term partnership with Nestlé has delivered


a substantial new investment in Scotland generating economic benefits, jobs and invaluable community contributions over the next 25 years. Scottish onshore wind is highly productive and Sanquhar will deliver over 45% capacity factor which will be supplied to the grid, thereby reducing fossil fuel generation. Global warming is becoming more obvious every day and it’s great to see a company as influential as Nestlé making a stand for the environment.” The project has been welcomed enthusiastically by the


local community in rural Sanquhar in Dumfries & Galloway and received no objections at all throughout the planning process. The scheme will contribute annually to a local community fund managed by Community Windpower, which will help provide economic, educational, environ- mental and social benefits for the lifetime of the wind farm. On site, a host of biodiversity protection and enhancement measures have been put in place to ensure local wildlife prospers alongside the new farm. Ecological surveys ensured that important habitats and species were not affected by the construction of the windfarm.


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site a number of years ago when up to 25 turbines were being considered but the scheme has since been scaled down. Objections had been received from some commu-


A wind farm near the Southern Upland Way, Scotland, has been given planning permission. Developers E.ON welcomed the decision on its nine-turbine Lorg project east of Carsphairn. Plans first surfaced for the


councils who raised concerns about the impact on the walking route but the project was given approval. Hayley Meadley, E.ON pro-


al years to design this project, during which time we have taken on board considera- tions from many stakeholders as well as feedback received


Power company duo light up Top 50 Women in Engineering list


Samantha Burchell


Kellie Dillon


ject manager, said: "We're delighted that Dumfries and Galloway Council has granted consent for our wind farm proposal at Lorg. "We have worked for sever-


E-ON wind farm in 1991, the company has taken a leading role in the development on UK wind power. It now operate 20 wind farms - both onshore and offshore. The latest addition the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm of the East Riding of the Yorkshire coast was completed in 2015.


Two bright lights from the UK’s largest electricity distributor have been recognised among the Top 50 Women in Engineering: Returners and Transferrers. UK Power Networks’ operations manager, Samantha Burchell and Kellie Dillon, from the


company’s innovation team, earned the honour from the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) when the list was published after International Women in Engineering Day (on June 23rd, 2018).


Samantha’s team is responsible for keeping the lights on for 230,000 homes and businesses


across the Croydon area. She leads the experienced technical teams, including engineers and 60 field staff that run the electricity network round the clock. Samantha said: “Every day is different. Power cuts are rare but sometimes we face power


cuts affecting many of our customers and that is when my adrenalin kicks in and my problem- solving comes to the fore. Like the rest of my team I have worked on standby, restoring electricity supplies in the middle of the night when I’m tired, it’s raining hard and dark. Now, with management responsibilities, I attend more meetings, but I still like being hands-on in emergencies. “I never thought in a million years that I’d be an area manager, doing a job like this. The work


has exceeded all my expectations. I am conscious of the responsibilities I have got. I manage a large team and budget and look after 230,000 customers – and I absolutely love it.” Mother-of-three Kellie works at UK Power Networks’ head office in London and lives with her


family in Bexleyheath. Having started her career in retail, her current role is to enable more renewable energy to come onstream, and save people money by helping deliver innovative solutions to their power needs – all a world away from where she started out. Kellie said: “My career has moved from helping customers in the world of retail, to helping renewable energy generators connect to the electricity grid – and you could say I am completely sold on my current career.” After UK Power Networks began in 2010, Kellie became a Distributed Generation Business


Analyst for the company in 2013, before switching to her present role in the Innovation team last year. She comments: “There still aren’t as many women as men in engineering but one of the projects I am on is 67% women, so the tables are turning. If you are willing to learn, dedication and hard work will see you thrive.”


JULY - AUGUST 2018 UK POwEr NEwS


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