WORK has begun on the repowering of Delabole Wind Farm, which will see the existing ten turbines replaced with four larger, more powerful ones.

Delabole was the UKs first commercial wind farm, built by the Edwards family in 1991 as a greener alternative to plans for a nuclear power station in the area. Since 2002 the wind farm has been owned and operated by Good Energy, which is investing £11.8 million to repower it.

The repowering of Delabole will see the 10 existing turbines being replaced with four modern, more powerful ones taking the UKs first commercial wind farm into its second generation of onshore wind power.

With a total combined capacity of 9.2MW, the new turbines will increase the wind farms output by roughly two and a half times.

A Good Energy spokesman said: Thats enough to supply over 7,800 homes, ensuring Delabole plays an integral role in helping put the UK on the path to a 100 per cent renewable energy future. The repowering of Delabole is Good Energys first wind farm development project and weve been delighted by the warm welcome our proposals received from the local community and Good Energy customers in North Cornwall.

From the outset we wanted to provide as much information as possible to everyone with an interest in the site and we hope that the community feels its had an input into the development.

Juliet Davenport, Good Energy chief executive, told the Post: We aim to reconnect people back to where their energy comes from. We want people to understand where their power comes from.

A number of open days were held to allow people to visit the site, look inside the turbines and see how it works for themselves. The open days also included workshops on how people can generate their own power, such as through solar power and anaerobic digestion.

Its an extension of an investment in your house, helping you buy your power for the future as the next generation of people coming out of school and university over the last 10 years have grown up with climate change and the impact it has on their lives.

The existing turbines are expected to come down in the next couple of weeks. Once down, the relevant groundwork will take place and the new turbines will arrive on site from the middle of September. It is hoped they will go up in early October and will be fully operational in November.

Anyone interested can keep up with the latest news on Good Energy website at http://www.goodenergy.co.uk">www.goodenergy.co.uk.