BT and RES join forces on wind farm project

BT's long-standing plans to develop a wind farm took a major step forward yesterday, after the company inked a joint venture deal with renewable energy developer RES that will see the firms co-operate on the development of a new wind farm in Northumberland.

Both companies had previously identified a site 10km north west of Morpeth as a suitable location for a wind farm, but plans for two independent developments totalling 13 turbines faced local opposition and were rejected at the planning stage.

Now the firms have inked a deal to work together on a new combined proposal for a smaller five-turbine project at the site totalling 10MW of capacity.

Under the terms of the agreement, RES will take responsibility for progressing the project and producing a full planning application following the submission of a scoping request to Northumberland County Council.

BT's contribution to the partnership remains unclear at this stage and a spokeswoman for RES said the company would not be disclosing investment details and commercial terms for the agreement.

However, with the telco giant having previously signalled its interest in sourcing renewable energy direct, it could yet provide some investment for the proposed project or take up a power purchase agreement for the energy produced by the wind farm.

"RES has more than 30 years experience to bring to this project and we are very excited to be working with BT," said Daniel Leahy, RES project manager, in a statement. "We look forward to developing a successful wind farm scheme that will generate a considerable amount of clean, green electricity."

He also urged other blue chip firms to follow BT's lead and seek "innovative ways to work with the renewable energy sector to ensure that together we can secure the energy generation capacity this country needs to maintain growth and prosperity in the future".

A spokesman for BT said the alliance would allow it to accelerate efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. "Having reviewed its strategic priorities in terms of sourcing renewable energy, BT believes it can reduce its carbon footprint more swiftly by sourcing a wider variety of renewable assets," he said. "This partnership will see RES take responsibility for progressing wind-turbine projects and managing full planning applications."

BT first announced back in 2007 that it was looking to build its own wind farm, but planning barriers and changes to the renewable energy policy regime have meant the plans have been subject to years of delays.

However, the company has said it remains committed to directly sourcing growing levels of renewable energy as a means of both enhancing its energy security and reducing its long-term costs. It is now part of an expanding trend that has seen growing numbers of blue chip firms commit to generating their own power. Most notably, IKEA recently announced it would invest up to 1.5bn in becoming energy independent by the end of the decade.