Wiltshire Community Wind Energy

Group News, Updates and Events

This new column has been started to give an update on some of the actions we are doing, and other useful information. If you can help with any of the activities we would like to here from you. We hope that other groups (e.g. climate friendly groups) may find some of our work useful - we would be pleased to provide further details.

All information is provided 'as is' with no guarantee with respect to accuracy or suitability for any purpose. The information is provided for use by members of Wiltshire Community Wind Energy and similar voluntary groups. It is only available for use by  individuals or organisations with the written agreement of Wiltshire Community Wind Energy.

Did You know....evidence exists for 102 windmills in 74 parishes, over a period of 650 year in Wiltshire . The earliest so far known was in the south of the county dated 1248. So wind power is not new in Wiltshire - In fact it is the lack of the use of the wind which is unusual today.

(Source: Martin Watts (1980) Wiltshire Windmills published by Wiltshire County Council Library and Museum Service)

Small-scale Wind Energy

Thinking about a small-scale wind turbine for a school or on your house? When we talk of small wind turbines this includes 1.75m diameter roof mounted wind turbines to typically 3m - 9m diameter tower mounted turbines. There has been considerable uncertainty about how effective these turbines are - particularly the roof mounted micro turbines. If you are thinking about small wind turbines have a look at this site and new report. This report stresses the importance of location. Get it wrong and your turbine may not offset as much carbon as it took to build it in the first place! (and it will be very expensive). Get it right and it is an environmentally viable cost effective solution.

This report and others studies are indicating that urban sites are often not very effective. We may be able to provide some initial help if you want to know more - please get in touch.

Site Scoping

One of our first activities is a scoping exercise to try and identify potential sites. The group is preparing a 'geographic information system' (GIS) model of the county. Initial work has identified some key issues such as airfields (wind turbines are tall structures and can impact on airfields and radar). Work is ongoing to improve our knowledge of this issue. We are now in the position to be able to give some basic information for all areas of Wiltshire - but more work is needed. If you would like some initial information from the GIS model, drop us a line.

An example output from the GIS model is available here, with an introduction to what is shown provided here. It is still very early days but hopefully you can see where it is going. 

Meeting News

25 August 2008

Lots going on at the moment - a number of organisations and individuals have got in touch recently with some interesting and positive opportunities. We hope to have some further details by the next meeting at the end of September. The date is to be confirmed soon. Thinking of a small wind turbine for your house/ farm/school?  Have a look at the Action News to the left on this page.

We also have a better idea of the aviation issues in Wiltshire - it was an area we knew only limited information about. If you want to know more please get in touch

5 August 2008

We are aiming for a meeting in September, but have not finalised the date or venue quite yet. However many people at the last meeting wanted to start looking at sites. We have therefore developed a 'top 10 tips' for site identification, which you may find useful.

25 July 2008

The Salisbury meeting was a great success - many thanks to all those that came, and next time we may think of having a larger room! The next meeting which should be in September will be looking at potential sites (or at least looking at broad areas) - so start thinking! If you have any thoughts from the meeting please drop us a line. The powerpoint presentation is available here.

As always, if you are new to the group and the web site please do not hesitate to contact us - you will be joining an increasing number of people throughout Wiltshire! See the contacts page for details.

16 July 2008

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow for the meeting in Salisbury. If you have any last minute questions please call on 07816 029901, otherwise see you there!

12 July 2008

The first meeting in Salisbury is this Thursday please find details in the agenda. It would be great if as many people as possible came to the meeting. If you need any help getting to Salisbury please let us know (see the contacts page). If you can email or call to let us know you are coming that would be great (but not essential) - it will help us get the number of biscuits right!

28 June 2008

As confirmed below the next meeting of the group will be held on Thursday 17th July in Salisbury. Further details are provided in the agenda. There is a flyer for the meeting to pass to your friends or put up in your local library/shop etc. We would love to see you there.

16 June 2008

By popular request the next meeting of the group will be held on Thursday 17th July in Salisbury. The venue will be the United Reformed Church, 30 Fisherton Street, Salisbury SP2 7RG. Further details of the meeting will be provided here soon!

1 June 2008

A big thank you for those that could get to the meeting on the 27th May. The phone call and emails from those that could not get to the meeting are also very welcome. The Powerpoint presentation is available here and there are some brief notes (the notes include a link to a free viewer for the presentation if you need one). As expected there are lots of actions to come out of the meeting. By consensus it was agreed that the next meeting will be in Salisbury, because there were a number of people who wanted to come from the south of the county but felt that it was too far to come to Trowbridge. We are in the group building stage and hope after the meeting in Salisbury that we can establish a core of people to run the group.