On the 12th October the Estia students had a busy Welsh itinerary visiting the Carno II Windfarm, Powys, in the morning and the Centre of Alternative Technology Centre (CAT) at Machynlleth in the afternoon.
On approach to the Windfarm the scene was eerily quiet with all wind turbines standing motionless. At the substation the group was met by Sion Thomas (Site Manager) who explained that there had been an issue at 5am that morning with National Grid accepting the energy supplied by the Wind Farm. In these situations the substation and transformer equipment are automatically isolated from the grid to prevent unnecessary running of the turbines and any subsequent damage.
On the drive up through the turbine field, Sion gave an interesting review of the developments of both phases of Carno l and Carno ll wind farms explaining the renewable energy power output, the environmental impact and the community benefits provided by the windfarm.
When leaving the coach at the base of the turbine, it is only then when the scale of the turbine becomes apparent. Standing at over 50m from ground level, the turbine dwarfs the coach. Back at the substation, Sion showed the students the planning application and the site location for phase lll of the Carno Windfarm site, an investment of £60m.
Moving into the afternoon the students visited CAT where Joe and Julie gave the students an in-depth tour of their ‘living laboratory’; exploring their pioneering ways in which we can rapidly reduce or addiction to fossil fuels, whilst increasing the wellbeing of our communities, and nurturing the bio-diversity upon which we all depend.
Joe giving the students an explanation of their toilet habits and future uses!
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