Renewable Energy Possibilities for Ardrossan Allotment Sophie Gribben Science Baccalaureate

Project Overview For my Science Baccalaureate I decided to investigate the possibility of a wind turbine for the Ardrossan Allotment site The site currently runs on a generator, but this is not producing enough power for both cabins It is also not sustainable, unlike renewable energy

Wind power I chose to investigate wind power for a number of reasons Turbines produce electricity day and night They take up less space compared to solar panels The allotment site is exposed enough to produce a good yield of power, whilst still being protected from direct blasts of wind straight off of the coast I will also briefly cover solar power in this presentation

Power needed The Allotments currently use around 6kW of power when all appliances are switched on The breakdown is detailed as follows: Strip lights: 10 x 18 = 180 Heaters: 3 x 2000 = 6000 Kettle: 1 x 1800 = 1800 Projector: 1 x 300 = 300 Laptop: 1 x 50 = 50 Printer: 1 x 10 = 10 Total = 8340 Watts This means the turbine will be around ----- m tall

Cost-Benefit Analysis The estimated price of the turbine is between £20,000 and £30,000 The site as a average wind speed of 6.5m/s So the amount of power produced would be around 18,000 and 19,000kWh per year Feed-in Tariffs The government will pay 8.26p per kWh This will generate around £1500 per year to pay towards the cost of the turbine Excess energy can also be fed into the power grid to generate more revenue This means the turbine will pay for itself during its 20 year lifespan

Grants and Loans Available There are a number of grants and loans available to help with the initial cost of the turbine: Our Place Funding Climate Challenge Fund Greggs Foundation – Environmental Grants M&S Energy – Community Energy Fund Naturesave Trust - Community Renewable Energy Grants Pure Leapfrog Community Energy Loan

Siting of the Turbine In accordance with the Town and Country planning (General Permitted Development) (Domestic Microgeneration) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2010: The turbine must situated 100m away from any other buildings The design and size must be approved by the local authority, and in some cases the siting and external appearance of the turbine also More information can be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2010/27/pdfs/ssi_20100027_en.pd f

Survey Results I sent out a short survey to gather public opinion on the use of wind turbines I asked the following: What is your relation to the allotments? Do you think the Ardrossan Allotments should be powered by a wind turbine? Why/Why not? What height range do you think would be suitable (unobtrusive but still generating power)? Have you got any concerns about a wind turbine being installed?

Alternatives While the response from the survey was overwhelmingly positive, there was a few suggestions for alternative sources of power The main alternative suggested was solar power To produce the same yield as the turbine: Around 15 panels are required The panels will have to be placed away from trees or shade They will have to be cleaned of any fallen leaves every couple of months

Acknowledgements Thank you to everyone who has played a part in this project Dr. Cannon, my assessor Mrs. Gilmour and the Three Towns Growers group John Watson of Strathclyde University The local community