July 3rd, 2009
Gaia-Wind Ltd have a stand at The Royal Highland Show on 7th-10th JulyWe are at stand J-45-17. The show is being held at:
The Royal Show
Stoneleigh Park
Warwickshire
CV8 2LZ
For further info please see The Royal show website
June 16th, 2009
Currie High School in Edinburgh has won a nationwide top energy award and was the only entry from Scotland that
was recognised at the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy 2009.
The awards were hosted by Prince Charles on 11th June. Currie High school won the Schools award category.
The school has been reducing their energy use over the past 10 years by installing a solar thermal system and a Gaia-Wind
11kW wind turbine. Pupils at the school are also learning about sustainable energy.
Other ways the school has been reducing their energy use have been to upgrade over 2000 lights to low energy use designs, all
doors have been replaced to try and help prevent heat loss and they have also had all of the windows re-sealed. The Schools
swimming pool is heated by solar thermal panels and the boiler is now switched off for several months of the year.
June 16th, 2009
Gaia-Wind are exhibiting at the Royal Highland Show on 25th-28th June 2009. You will find us at Avenue-RM and we are stand number 3.
The show is being held at:
Royal Highland Show,
Ingliston,
Edinburgh,
EH28 8NB
For further information on the show please go to the shows website - http://www.royalhighlandshow.org/visitors
June 8th, 2009
Invitation to a Gaia-Wind Turbine Reception
On Tuesday 16th June between 2pm and 5pm at
Bure Valley Farm, Burgh Road, Aylsham,
Norfolk, NR11 6TZ
By kind invitation of Mr David & Mrs Jackie Browne and Gaia-Wind Ltd
See the recently installed Lattice Tower Turbine in action, meet and
talk with the owners and suppliers, enjoy the refreshments.
RSVP by Friday 12th June to Lisa Crawford – 0845 871 4242
Or
lisa.crawford@gaia-wind.com
You can also speak to Gaia-Wind agents at the Cereals Show on
Wednesday 10th & Thursday 11th June. We are stand number 1015.
Cereals Show – Vine Farm, Wendy, Nr Royston, Cambridgshire, SG8 0HJ
June 8th, 2009
Gaia-Wind Ltd will have agents at this years Cereals show.
Come along and see us, we are Stand number 1015.
The show is on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th June at:
Vine Farm,
Wendy,
Nr Royston
Cambridgeshire
SG8 0HJ
For further information on the show please visit www.cerealsevent.co.uk
June 8th, 2009
An award winning Shropshire based brewery has taken steps to become the leading sustainable Eco-brewery in the UK by installing a Gaia-Wind 11kW turbine.
Hobsons brewery based in Cleobury Mortimer has installed a twin blade Gaia-Wind 11kW turbine. This is providing a third of the electricity needed to create a perfect Hobsons pint. The brewery is now asking local residents to help with choosing a name for the turbine. The winner of the naming competition will win a crate of Hobsons Beer.
Having already implemented ground source heat pumps, rainwater capture and the use of hydro-carbon rather that CFC’s in its refrigeration process it is clear the brewery are committed to sustainable technologies.
Hobsons Brewery’s Managing Director Nick Davis researched wind technologies for several years before choosing the twin blade Gaia-Wind 11kW turbine.
The power from the turbine will be used for production processes such as brewing through to bottling. any electricity not used will be automatically re-directed to the national grid. The £40,000 turbine has a payback period of around six years.
Nick Davis said ” We are delighted with the response from everyone in the town. We chose this wind turbine as it makes less noise than the three blade variety. We also spent a long time finding the right location for the turbine to ensure it had the least impact on the landscape. However people keep ringing to ask where the turbine is so they can visit it.
June 3rd, 2009
Throughout rural and urban England you will have no doubt seen the Wind Turbines that are beginning to appear. See if a
wind turbine could help to reduce your energy bills and carbon footprint using the following guide.
Types of Turbines available
The tradition small wind turbines available are horizontal axis with 2 or 3 blades. There are also vertical axis turbines available and wall mounted turbines. They vary from as small as 100 - 500 watts, these are usually wall mounted turbines, the larger turbines are 2.5 kilowatts - 50 kilowatts these are mast mounted.
Location
To realise a long term cost and carbon saving the location of the turbine is the most important factor. For information on the average wind speed for your location it is best to contact the local meteorological bureau (uk - Carbon Trust wind power estimator). To get accuate results from a specific location the recommendation would be to install an anemometer.
The BWEA says “At the right locations small wind systems can produce electricity cheaper than the grid and payback their embedded carbon within months”.
Generally speaking rural locations are better suited to wind turbines. A report recently published by the carbon trust in the UK concluded that wind turbines in a rural settings were four times more affective than those in an urban setting.
Turbines installed in built up areas face 2 major problems. Firstly buildings often disrupt the wind flow making the area turbulent therefore rendering the turbine almost useless. Secondly the size of the turbines generally installed in built up areas are very small, 1 kilowatt, and these models rarely deliver the cost and energy saving required.
Price of turbines?
1 kilowatt models range from £1000 - £2000
6 kilowatt models range from £27,000
15 Kilowatt models range from £45,000
Prices of turbines do vary a lot and is dependable on the size and power. Most prices include installation. Turbines can last over 20 years providing they undergo regular maintenance.
Grants available?
In the UK the Low Carbon Buildings Program offers up to £2500 funding towards domestic renewable energy ventures. Grants are also available from governments in other countries.
The BWEA advised that the domestic wind turbine market grew by 80% from 2006 - 2007 in the UK.
Energy Savings?
An average UK household annually uses 3,300 kilowatt hours of electricity, this comes at a cost of around £500. A 1 Kw turbine, which is likely to produce between 10% and 20% of your total annual requirements, will save you between £50 - £100 a year. If the turbine cost £1500 to buy then the payback period at current electricity prices would be 15-30 years.
The BWEA has calculated that a £22,000 proven Energy 6kW turbine at wind speeds of 6.5 meters per second can produce 12,500 kilowatt hours. This would mean a surplus of electricity to most households, meaning that the surplus could be sold back to the grid.
Gaia-Wind’s 11kW turbine results are even more impressive. Costing around £45,000 ($65,000) the turbine that was installed at a dairy farm
in the Scottish Borders in a wind speed area of 6.5 meter per second will produce around 40,000 kilowatt hours per year. The BWEA have calculated that factoring in the selling surplus this turbine’s payback time could be 5 years.
Surplus energy can be sold back to the grid in many countries in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates or green tags. In the UK at the current energy prices these can help reduce your payback period by up to ten years.
Stephen Andrews from the UK’s Centre For Sustainable Energy said ” In a rural area, as long as you have a good wind resource then small scale wind turbines, up to 15kW, are very good. They can have a payback period of much less than 10 years”.
Carbon Savings?
Alex Murley from the BWEA said ” In the UK market, 172 grams of carbon is saved for every kilowatt hour produced by a wind turbine”
Other Considerations?
Planning - For most domestic turbine planning permission is required especially mast mounted ones.
Noise - Large models can be quiet noisy, proper consideration as to where the turbine will be sited is needed as not to affect neighbours.
Service - As with any piece of machinery regular services are required so ensure is effectiveness
Replacement batteries - Battery storage systems do not last as long as a turbine does and would need to be replaced, this can be fairly costly.
May 27th, 2009
Invitation to a Gaia-Wind Turbine Open Day at the
“Center of Renewable Energy”
On Wednesday 3rd June between 1pm and 5pm
By kind invitation of Strawson Energy, Gaia-Wind & Segen
Since you contacted Gaia-Wind expressing interest in wind turbines, the story has progressed. With 16 turbines installed to date in England and Scotland, high output capability is being clearly demonstrated in UK conditions.
See http://www.gaia-wind.co.uk
Low carbon building is one application where the Gaia-Wind turbine is a significant energy source. When combined with heat pumps or biomass boilers the emissions footprint is reduced beyond the 15 tonnes a year of a typical Gaia-Wind turbine. Surplus energy is then available for other requirements on site or for export to the national grid. Combination’s can be fitted to existing buildings to replace oil fired boilers, and may be eligible for a rural development grant.
For bigger farm energy users, a pair of Gaia-Wind 11kW turbines can provide a high proportion of the energy required for crop storage or dairy use and may also be eligible for an RDPE grant.
One particularly interesting site using Gaia-Wind is the Centre of Renewable Energy “CORE” in Nottingham shire, where the first turbine with a tubular tower was installed in England. The Gaia-Wind turbine is powering Ground Sourced Heat, Air Sourced Heating and Cooling, district heating from Koolfuel SRC willow pellets and rainwater harvesting. Working alongside Solar PV and Solar thermal, the Gaia-Wind turbine is a main provider of renewable energy in a sustainable building project.
See http://www.centreofrenewableenergy.co.uk/index.html
You are invited to a Gaia-Wind open day at the “Centre of Renewable Energy” on Wednesday June 3rd between 1.00 and 5.00pm. You can see and hear a working turbine and compare with other systems, wind and sun permitting. Options can be discussed with representatives from Gaia-Wind, Segen and other technology suppliers. Refreshments provided.
At: CORE, Manor Business Park, East Drayton, Retford, Nottingham shire DN22 0LG
RSVP to Lisa Crawford by 29th of May. lisa.crawford@gaia-wind.com Ph: 0845 871 4242
With thanks to the host, Strawson Energy.
May 27th, 2009
Interest in renewable energy and wind turbines amongst farmers was confirmed recently at the All-Energy event in Aberdeen.
James Sutcliffe a business manager from the co-op bank, who are among the main funders of farm based projects,
has said they expect another 15 turbine deals to be agreed this year with potential for a further 40 projects across
Britain with Several of those being in Aberdeenshire.
The co-op vowed to inject £400 million into renewable energy projects and they still have £200 million of this
available resulting in them being able to lend between £500,000 - £20million to projects over the next 15 years.
4 Wind turbine projects have already benefited from the funding - Bruxiehill at Peterhead & Balnammon near Keith being
two of them.
Elaine Booth was helped by the co-op using project finance to put up a turbine at Bruxiehill. She has said that the co-op
allowed farmers to become actively involved in renewable energy projects.
Talking about the All-Energy event Mr Sutcliffe said ” We have has a busy couple of days. We have done projects up here already and obviously farmers talk to each other which lies behind the interest”.
May 7th, 2009
The Scottish Government has increased the level of grants to help community developments of small scale renewable energy schemes by 50 per cent. There is now up to £150,000 available for the training, technical support and installation of green energy equipment, such as small wind turbines.
This new scheme called ‘The Communities and Renewable Energy Scheme’ (care) has been brought in to replace a previous initiative which helped in the development of 400 green energy projects.
Energy minister Jim Mather said: “I want to maximise the benefits of renewable energy to communities throughout Scotland.”
Nicholas Gubbins, chief executive of Community Energy Scotland said: “There is already a high level of interest and enthusiasm within communities for developing their own projects.
“These can bring real benefits to communities, helping to address energy costs and making a significant contribution to Scotland’s carbon and renewable energy targets.”
