DELABOLE wind farm, the first commercial wind farm in the UK, recently received a card signed by over 1,000 people from across the country in celebration of its 25th birthday.

The wind farm was commissioned by local farmer, Peter Edwards, and began generating power in December 1991, making it the first commercial venture of its kind in the UK.

Since 2002, it has been owned by Wiltshire-based Good Energy, which has used the farm to benefit the community through a local fund and a special discounted electricity tariff.

Organised by climate change charity, 10:10, the card has been signed by people from Orkney through to the Isles of Scilly, who wish to thank the pioneering wind farm for ‘25 years of clean power’.

Cecily Spelling, campaign manager at 10:10, said: “We felt a bit silly, taking this massive card on the tube then all the way down to Cornwall. But the story of Delabole wind farm has touched so many people around the UK. We just wanted to share all the love for wind turbines! For people up and down the country, wind turbines offer a glimmer of hope for a cleaner, greener future and that all started right here 25 years ago with Delabole wind farm. It really is a myth that people don’t like wind turbines. Our polling shows 73% of the British public back onshore wind power.”

Juliet Davenport OBE, chief executive of Good Energy, said: “This is an incredible achievement for the renewable energy industry — and a big moment for Delabole. Since the turbines started turning, renewable technologies have come a long way, with wind power generating a record-breaking 12% of the UK’s electricity in 2015.

“The success of the wind farm has largely been down to the support of the local community who are the real custodians of this site. It’s thanks to them, and their belief in the project, that has helped make Delabole the perfect model for further wind power developments here in the UK.”

Peter Edwards — known as the ‘grandfather of Britain’s wind industry’ — who first developed the wind farm in 1991, said: “After the wind farm started generating in 1991, one of the main criticisms was that the amount we contributed to the national grid was so insignificant that we shouldn’t have bothered. That’s why it’s so satisfying to see just how far wind energy has come and how it now competes with nuclear. As Bob Dylan once wrote, ‘the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind’.”