Renewable energy company, npower renewables, has started preparatory work which will lead to the construction of the wind farm near
Alnwick in Northumberland.

It follows the recent grant of consent by the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform after a public inquiry last year.

npower renewables regional development manager Clare Wilson explained that this initial work includes discussions with turbine manufacturers for the supply of the wind turbines for the project, and appointing specialist radar consultants to complete discussions with Ministry of Defence officials to satisfy their requirements for the project.

npower renewables will also be providing Alnwick District Council with the information that is required under the consent before works can commence on site.

Ms Wilson said: "Since receiving consent from the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) we have taken steps to start the process of building Middlemoor Wind Farm.

"This is an exciting project that will bring substantial environmental benefits, and npower renewables wants to move the project into construction as quickly as possible. The wind farm will be built in accordance with the Environmental Statement, and in line with the planning conditions.

"There is an urgent need to tackle climate change and the wind farm at Middlemoor is very important if we are to meet the UK's targets of supplying 15 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2015."

Once operational, this wind farm will generate enough power to supply the average needs of some 27,600 homes.

It will comprise 18 turbines, each with a height of up to 125 metres (including blades). The household numbers are 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) and 25.2 million UK households giving 4,666 kWh per year per household. The figure takes into account fluctuations in wind speeds, including when the wind speed is too low for the turbines to operate.