npower renewables proposal for a 5 turbine wind farm planned for land between Clacton-On-Sea and St Osyth has been refused by the planning committee at Tendring District Council.

Councillors voted against the application, which was recommended for approval by the District Planning Officer. The decision was made at a special meeting of the Development Control Committee on 19 June.

npower renewables Development Manager Cath Stevenson said, "We are disappointed that Tendring District Councillors didn't take this opportunity to make a positive decision and act in support of renewable energy.

"A wind farm at Earls Hall could generate enough clean energy for thousands of homes each year. We will now look at our next steps and consider whether to appeal against this decision.

"We would like to thank everyone who has supported the wind farm."

The annual generation expected at the site would be equivalent to the approximate domestic needs of "an estimated range" of 5,000 to 6,000 average UK households. This takes into account fluctuations in wind speeds, including periods when the turbines will not be generating.

Notes
Energy predicted to be generated by the proposal is derived using wind speeds monitored in the local area and correlating to a Met. Office station providing longer term data. This enables a calculation to be made to estimate the average annual energy production for the site based on 5 turbines each of rated capacity of between 2 and 2.3MW. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent or emissions savings figures may change as further data are gathered.

Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4700 kWh, which is derived from a total UK domestic electricity consumption of 117.589 terawatt-hours (TWh) (The Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2005) and 25.2 million UK households (Mid-year Household Estimates published in 2004 by the Office for National Statistics).

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