Fife Council has switched on its first commercial-scale wind turbine which it hopes will generate £100,000 a year.
The 250ft high structure at Lower Melville Wood reached its final milestone when it was connected to the National Grid.
It was built last December, but has stood still since, awaiting connection.
The £1.3 million turbine at the council’s recycling and resource recovery facility near Ladybank is expected to generate enough electricity to power 200 homes.
Sustainability champion councillor John Wincott said: “This turbine is the latest in a series of renewable energy generation projects that Fife Council have undertaken and is a valuable addition to our portfolio.
“We already have in place clean energy generation from garden and food waste at our anaerobic digester and from landfill gas.
“We also have solar photovoltaic at a number of locations, so this wind turbine is a logical progression for the council.
“Because this is green energy, it will save the equivalent of 450 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum that would have been produced by the burning of fossil fuels.
“It will also generate an income for the council of up to £100,000 per annum from feed in tariff and sales of electricity, something that is very welcome given the budget challenges faced by the council over the coming years.”
Final commissioning and testing of the turbine took place over the last few weeks allowing the turbine to start exporting to the grid.
Generation output is expected to be around 800,000 kWh annually.
The turbine was built by Spectrum Energy Systems and is managed by Resource Efficient Solutions, Fife Council’s arms-length environmental and resource management company.
