The exhibition is designed to keep local residents informed on the proposals, which would see the farm built near the village of Lamonby in the picturesque Eden Valley. The display will also showcase other renewable energy projects involving the firm in the local area, including the Robin Rigg offshore windfarm in the Solway Firth.
We’re committed to keeping local people informed, which is why we’ve organized these new exhibitions, says Bob Whitely, project manager for E.ON UK’s renewables arm.
If E.ON UK gets the green light, the Lamonby windfarm would generate enough clean, green energy to supply a third of Eden district homes and displace the emission of 28,000 tons of CO2 every year, the firm says.
Recent plans for windfarms in northern England have caused controversy however. Plans for a major new wind power development at Whinash near Tebay, close to the Lake District national park, provoked a storm of protest from the environmental lobby, and the plans have been rejected by the government.
The hoped-for development of offshore farms has also been slow to materialize, with E.ON’s two planned projects facing delays (in the case of Robin Rigg) or postponement (in the case of its 108MW Scarweather site). These delays have led some observers to suggest that the UK government’s renewables obligation may not be sufficient subsidy to cover the massive capital costs of building and then connecting offshore windfarms.
Meanwhile, increasingly stringent planning laws, and often-fierce lobbying from local residents, has stymied the construction of onshore farms.
