New landmark on skyline as giant Ulley wind turbines start work

The six 132-metre turbines at the Penny Hill wind farm in Ulley is now operational.

Operator Barlborough-based Banks Renewables claims each of the giant turbines will  generate enough electricity to power around 10,000 homes.

Phil Dyke, development director at Banks Renewables, said: “The latest Department of Energy and Climate Change figures shows that wind power generated 5.5 per cent of the UK's electricity needs in 2012, compared to four per cent in 2011, but there is an increasingly pressing need for us to generate substantially more of the energy we all use from such indigenous renewable sources.

"We're extremely pleased to be playing our part in meeting this crucial objective, and being able to produce clean energy from the Penny Hill wind farm is another landmark in Banks’ continuing success in the renewables sector.”

Banks already operates Marr and Hazlehead wind farms, near Doncaster and Barnsley.

Despite protests from residents living in Ulley, Aston and Thurcroft work to install the controversial £21.9 million development at the heart of the borough’s green belt began late last year.

Thousands of tonnes of concrete were sunk into green belt land to create the bases for the turbines, and tarmac was laid to provide access roads over farm land.

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