Marsh wind farm officially opened

The South East's largest onshore wind farm has been officially opened on the Kent-Sussex border by the Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Milliband.

The £60m wind farm, at Little Cheyne Court on Romney Marsh, has 26 wind turbines, each 115m (377ft) high to the tip of the rotor blade.

Once fully operational it has the capacity to generate power to meet the annual needs of up to 33,000 homes.

It has been exporting electricity to the National Grid since November.

Clean electricity

Despite widespread objections, and following a public inquiry, permission was granted by the government for RWE Npower Renewables to construct the wind farm in 2005.

Local councils in Kent and English Nature were among organisations that voiced objection to the scheme, on the grounds that it was close to several nature reserves and in marshland teeming with wildlife.

But RWE Npower Renewables said the turbines would generate enough clean electricity to meet the average annual demand of three-quarters of the homes in the Shepway District Council area.

The company said the wind farm would help contribute to the South East's target of 20% of electricity being generated by renewable energy by 2020.

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