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Newcastle International backs wind farms

NEWCASTLE International yesterday launched a new strategy which will cater for a number of potential wind farm schemes in the North East.

Since 2005, the airport has received over 250 consultations for on and off-shore wind farm developments from across the region, all aiming to meet government-set targets for renewable energy.

Many of the schemes have the potential to affect the daily operations of Newcastle Airport’s Air Traffic Control, wind turbines in operation can appear on the airport radar with similar markings to a moving aircraft.

In the absence of a solution, in the past, the airport has had no alternative but to object to schemes where an unacceptable impact was predicted.

The Radar Blanking mitigation is a software update applied to the radar system which effectively places a ‘patch’ to cover the potential wind farm sites.

This can prevent the turbines appearing, so they cannot be mistaken for moving aircraft.

Graeme Mason, planning and corporate affairs director at Newcastle Airport, said, “We recognise the importance of the renewables agenda, not just to the region, but on a national and even global level.

“We were very keen to explore ways in which we could work to facilitate wind turbine developments.

“This strategy allows certain developments to proceed whilst growing the region’s largest airport, which annually contributes £400 million to the regional economy.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .