Energy firm unveils turbine plan

E.ON UK, which runs energy supplier Powergen, wants to build the turbines at Butterwick, near Sedgefield.

Plans have already been approved for a seven-turbine wind farm on a nearby moorland site at Butterwick, north of the A689 and east of Sedgefield.

The company says if planning approval is granted, the project could generate enough electricity to equal the demand of about 8,500 households.

Community fund

The firm is hosting a series of public exhibitions in Sedgefield, Trimdon and Fishburn in September.

Alex Fornal, project developer for E.ON UK, said: "We'd really encourage people living near the proposed site to come out and take at look our plans and to ask us questions.

"We're proposing the creation of a community fund that would be made available over the life of the scheme to support local projects if we got permission to build the wind farm.

"If approved, the wind farm could see £7m directly benefiting the local and regional economies and it could also play an important role in helping fulfil UK Government targets of generating 15% of electricity from renewable sources by 2015."

E.ON UK already has a stake in 20 wind farms across the country.

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