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Renewable Energy

Published: 15/10/2014

Flintshire County Council could begin creating its own renewable energy if cabinet members give the go-head to start identifying suitable sites for large scale projects at a meeting on Thursday (16 October). Welsh Government has provided incentives for installing renewable energy systems, like solar panels, wind turbines, hydro power and biomass boilers to generate electricity for a number of years. These incentives, coupled with assistance from local government organisations to plan larger renewable energy schemes have made it easier for the Council to begin to 10 year development plan to produce renewable energy. The Council has considerable land assets, ranging from farms to restored landfill sites, parks and woodland which have the potential either to be developed or contribute to developing a more sustainable and profitable future and extra funding has been made available to encourage local authorities to establish schemes. The Council’s Carbon Reduction Strategy sets out guidelines to achieve a target of 60 per cent reduction for carbon emissions from County buildings by 2021 and a significant element of this strategy is the development of large scale renewable generation. Councillor Bernie Attridge, Cabinet Member for Environment said: “There are huge long term benefits to renewable energy projects including lower energy costs, lower carbon emissions, security of supply and a reduction to the risk of utility cost inflation. These projects can help the Council meet the Carbon Reduction Strategy and are extremely positive for Flintshire residents.”