THE construction of Armistead windfarm has begun, with the first two turbine towers now built.

Almost half of the turbine components are now in place at the site, near Old Hutton, and work on turbines three and four is continuing.

The components include blades, turbine tower sections, hubs and nacelles, which are the housings placed at the top of the turbine that contains the generator and gearbox.

When it is fully operational, the Armistead windfarm will have an installed capacity of 12.3 Mega watts of renewable electricity.

Developers Banks Renewables said the scheme had already brought 'a wide range of other benefits to the area', including new jobs and contracts for local firms, a new pedestrian footway through Old Hutton and the Armistead Windfarm Community Fund, which will award grants up to £12,300 every year to community groups and facilities in the area.

Phil Dyke, development director at Banks Renewables, said: “Erecting the first turbine on site is obviously a real landmark for us, and takes us one step closer to being able to generate substantial amounts of renewable energy from the Armistead scheme.

“A great deal of work went into the planning of our delivery schedule to both minimise local traffic disruption and ensure that everyone is fully kept up to date on when deliveries are scheduled to take place, and we’re very pleased with how things have gone so far.

“The daily email alert service we instituted to advise local people in advance when and where transport movements were taking place has been operating as planned, and we’re grateful to the local authorities, the police, the Armistead community liaison committee and people living in the area for their help in making this process as efficient and undisruptive as possible.

“Further deliveries will take place over the coming weeks to enable us to continue the construction process, and we will ensure that everyone remains fully informed about the schedule ahead of any convoys’ arrival.”