§ Mr. EvansTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what is the capacity in MW of the current number of windfarms; [1353]
(2) how many windfarms are currently installed; and how many acres they cover in total. [1347]
§ Mr. BattleAt 31 March 1997, there were 42 windfarms in the United Kingdom with a total installed capacity of 283 Megawatts. Precise information about the area they cover is not available. However, estimates suggest that the area occupied by individual wind turbine towers can range between five and 20 square metres. For a wind farm consisting of twenty 500kW turbines, each covering an area of approximately 10 square metres, the total footprint would be about 200 square metres. Access tracks where required would occupy further land. The turbines might be placed within an area of about 1–2Km2 but the bulk of the site would be unaffected and could continue in its original use.