Renewable energy production data recently published by the Renewable Energy Foundation, an organisation opposed to the public support of renewable energy, has confirmed that Allt Dearg was Great Britain’s top performing wind farm in 2013.
The renewable energy production data is obtained by REF from official Government figures and is regarded as a reliable source. The Allt Dearg Community Wind Farm project went to full export on Christmas Eve 2012, so 2013 was the first year of operation when such data is made available.
During 2013 Allt Dearg generated nearly 44GWhours in the year, with an annual Capacity Factor of just over 50%. This was sufficient to meet the electrical energy demands of over 6,000 Argyll households (with long winters and little mains gas, Argyll homes are big electricity users), about 15% of the total. December was the best month with Capacity Factor close to 75%, July was the worst month with Capacity Factor down to 25%. The top performing turbine was T1 “Generator Genius” shown in the picture, she had an average of 55% Capacity Factor over 2013 and hit 80% in December. The average annual wind speed was just over 10 m/s (22mph), the monthly average wind speed in December exceeded 15 m/s (35 mph), and gusts reached 115 mph.
The UK average Capacity Factor is still around 25% for on-shore wind farms, so these results put Allt Dearg in pole position for energy generation from a commercial scale wind farm.
Allt Dearg has shown the way for local and community ownership of wind farms, a project developed and funded by entirely commercial means, with a majority local and community ownership structure ensuring that the maximum level of economic benefit is retained in the host communities.