Lancaster University’s Wind Turbine arrives on site

​Following months of preparation, Lancaster University’s wind turbine has arrived and work is now underway to erect the 100 metre turbine on its Hazelrigg site to the east of the M6.

The University was granted planning permission in 2011 to construct the turbine which will lower carbon emission in the area and provide approximately 11%-17% of the University’s energy requirements, dependent on long term average wind speed and site consumption.

The turbine site has been prepared by Lancaster company ‘Askam Construction’ supporting jobs in the local area.

The wind turbine has been manufactured by Germany based wind turbine specialists, Enercon. It will be the 300th turbine they have produced.

Lancaster University’s Vice Chancellor, Mark E. Smith said:

“The University takes it duty to be a responsible employer very seriously, and this includes treading as lightly as possible on the environment. The wind turbine is just one of a whole package of carbon saving and environmentally positive projects that we are introducing, the combined effect of which will be to improve energy efficiency and getting staff and students thinking about ways that they can contribute to carbon reduction.”

The turbine will be tested over the next few weeks and is expected to be fully operational during November 2012. The University will be launching a Community Benefits package in the next few weeks to support local community environmental projects.

The £5M wind turbine project is backed by a loan from the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s
Transformational Fund which was made available specifically for Higher Education Institutions across England to radically transform their approaches to energy consumption and reducing emissions. The University was one of only three out of the 37 applicants to gain such support.