Hamerton Zoo Park - Animal Park Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire

Renwewable Energy

Date: 27/11/2012

Our two new wind turbines were erected during the second half of November 2012. They are Endurance E3120 machines made in Canada and mounted on 36m mono-pole towers. In the wind speeds at the Park proved by the two original Gaia turbines, the new ones are projected to provide all of the electricity the Park needs in its operations, plus providing a surplus to export back to the National Grid.

Each turbine has its own SIM card and Wi-Fi connection, and we hope that a new 'Renewable Energy' section will be added to the web-site soon. This will provide current data on the performance of the machines, their current and total output, the Parks consumption and wind speeds here. It will detail the journey we took to get permission to become the most environmentally responsible zoo in Europe, and include press reaction and comments made by the tiny number of people who opposed our plans.

It has been an interesting year!

This data will also be transmitted to an interpretation centre on site, sponsored by Hallmark Green Power.

Hamerton Zoo Park and Hallmark Green Power would like to thank everyone who supported our aims and this project, especially Huntingdonshire District Council for its careful attention to detail during the planning process, support and approval of our scheme.

Endurance Wind Turbine, First step is the foundations - a hole is dug 7m square and 2m deep.
Endurance Wind Turbine, Second step - casting the foundations by pumping concrete over the steel reinforcing mesh
Endurance Wind Turbine, Finished foundations
Endurance Wind Turbine, Step three - lay the cable back to the meter house
Endurance Wind Turbine, Step four - here they come! Delivery is by normal lorry.
Endurance Wind Turbine, Step five - the assembled tower is picked up by two cranes, a large one at the top to do the main lift and to take its weight of 15 tons, and a smaller one to guide the base during the lift.
Endurance Wind Turbine, The large crane then lifts the tower from its vertical position and lowers it down over the foundation bolts.
Endurance Wind Turbine, Its a long way up! Looking up the 36m tower before the nacelle and blades are fitted.
Endurance Wind Turbine, Step six - up goes the nacelle with the three blades already attached.
Endurance Wind Turbine, Finished turbine. All done in a few days, ready for twenty years of free energy production. No noise, no fuss, no environmental impact, no loss of land, no waste, no problems, no alternative - and it's beautiful...