Our financial year ending last October saw our best production for eight years. Since then our Vestas V17 turbine, Moya, has been decommissioned, reducing our generation capacity by 10%. Particularly notable were the winds continuing throughout the summer months.

• FWP generated 1,229MWh of renewable electricity from our wind turbines and PV arrays.
• In addition, we estimate private PV systems generated a further 40-45MWh of renewable electricity.
• The Park Ecovillage usage was 1,106MWh, so on-site generation exceeded total demand by 14.9%.  
• FWP also exported 621MWh of renewable power when the wind turbines generated more than the Park could use, saving a CO2 emissions off the site.

The wind, like the sun, tides and waves, is a source of free energy. However it is not free to ‘harvest’ that energy, turn it into electricity and deliver it to our homes. Buying and erecting a wind turbine is a major cost and can be thought of as an advance payment for the electricity it will produce. Routine maintenance is essential to ensure that a wind turbine is a good investment.

Unless repairs are made when needed, a wind turbine may fail to deliver the electricity anticipated at the time it was purchased. There is a risk involved and, like an old car, there will come a time when the cost of repairs may not make economic sense. An assessment has to be made and a major overhaul may be required.

The wind turbines at Findhorn were built in 1995. They operated in Denmark for 10 years before Findhorn Wind Park purchased them and erected them here in 2006.

Read about our turbine refurbishment programme here.

FWP continue to monitor the role and price of battery systems for the Park Ecovillage. The scale of batteries required to take the Park Ecovillage off-grid is prohibitively expensive. As much of the battery capacity would be used (discharged and recharged) infrequently, the cost of the electricity from the batteries becomes very expensive.

Batteries can reduce the cost of running the Park Ecovillage electricity network:

• A smart grid capable of reducing peaks of demand on an ongoing basis would reduce FWP import costs.
• Strategic placement of batteries where the NFD network is weak may avoid the need to lay new cables of larger capacity.

We understand the sharp rise in electricity prices is very concerning. From 1st Nov. the cost of importing power will increase by 170% – 2.7 times the price we currently pay. FWP and NFD are working together to do what we can to limit the effects on consumers at the Park, but large price rises may be unavoidable.

The Energy Price Cap

The domestic energy price cap applies only to domestic supplies by licensed electricity suppliers. The Park Ecovillage has a single non-domestic supply to Findhorn Wind Park Ltd and so, unfortunately, the energy price cap does not apply.

New Findhorn Directions Ltd is the supplier to consumers at the Park. See the Customer Information page for further information. Neither NFD or FWP are suppliers licensed by Ofgem, the industry regulator that sets the energy price cap.

Support from Findhorn Wind Park

Licensed suppliers will be compensated for their costs in complying with the Ofgem energy price cap. Although the energy price cap is not binding on FWP, we will use some of our profits to reduce electricity prices at the Park in the coming year. It is our intention to supply NFD at a price matching or below the price cap, however we regret that we cannot guarantee this.

As all our income is earned through the generation of electricity, it is essential that the wind turbines are maintained in operational condition. FWP committed to a turbine refurbishment programme at the start of 2022. This limits the profits we will make in the next few years, but will ensure the turbines run for many more years. Continuing to generate electricity at the Park will make more protection from the market electricity price possible in the long term.

Energy Bills Support Scheme Discount

The Energy Bills Support Scheme provides a £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households to help with their energy bills over winter 2022 to 2023. ‘Park homes’ in general are not eligible, however the government has said:

As NFD supply consumers at the Park and hold accounts for individual households, it is expected that NFD will be responsible for making these payments. However, as yet the “further funding” referred to by the government has not been made available.

Government Support for Business Consumers

Support for business consumers was announced on 21st September for six months from 1st October. We are hopeful that FWP will be eligible for a discount on our grid imports from 1st November, when we will have to pay much more for imported electricity. We will pass on any discount received to Park consumers via NFD. As yet we do not know what this discount will be.

Government Announcements and U-turns

We apologise for not having clear information available. Information from the government has been slow to arrive (in part exacerbated by the complications that arise because the of the electricity supply arrangements for the Park Ecovillage) and has recently been reversed very quickly. We will do our best to keep you informed.

For further information please see:

Our Customer Information page

Our Turbine & Performance page

This month FWP bought a used Vestas V29 wind turbine that was being taken out of service. The nacelle, blades and hub are now in Denmark where they will be refurbished by WindTech AS. By September we expect to have exchanged the refurbished turbine with one of our operating V29 turbines.

This is the start of a turbine refurbishment programme that will be completed in 2023. It is expected to see the life of our wind turbines extended to 2035 or beyond.

Our financial year ending last October was less windy than usual. This was true across Europe and was a contributing factor to the current low gas storage levels and high energy prices.

Findhorn Wind Park production from both wind and solar fell 8.4% short of the total demand for electricity in the Park during the same period. We do have a 100% renewable import contract, so all the electricity consumed within the Park ecovillage was from renewable sources.

• FWP generated 1,013MWh of renewable electricity from our wind turbines and PV arrays.
• In addition, we estimate private PV systems generated a further 40-45MWh of renewable electricity.
• The Park Ecovillage usage was 1,103MWh, so on-site generation fell short of total demand by 4.3%.  
• FWP also exported 491MWh of renewable power when the wind turbines generated more than the Park could use, saving a CO2 emissions off the site.

This month, New Findhorn Directions announced a 2% average rise in the electricity price at the Park. Energy prices have been head line news recently, with many people experiencing price rises in the region of 50%. The modest Park price increase was achieved by Findhorn Wind Park fixing the price of our grid import before electricity prices soared by 33% in the last six months.

Sometime before autumn 2022, FWP must enter a new contract for the Park import power for 2023. We will monitor the market and achieve the lowest price possible, however the signs are that prices will still be high. Should this be the case, the high costs some are experiencing now would come to the Park starting in January 2023.

2021 also saw about 30 UK energy suppliers fail. If the Park’s current grid supplier joins the list, FWP would need to enter a new contract at the prevailing rates. This could result in another price rise before January 2023.

We feel it is best Park residents are forewarned of electricity price increases. You may wish to review your individual energy use and take what conservation measures you can before more significant price rises occur.

We are pleased to say that in our financial year ending last October, Findhorn Wind Park production exceeded the total demand for electricity in the Park during the same period. Furthermore, we have a 100% renewable import contract.

• FWP generated 1,186MWh of renewable electricity from our wind turbines and PV arrays.
• In addition, we estimate private PV systems generated a further 42-48MWh of renewable electricity.
• The Park Ecovillage usage was 1,125MWh, so on-site generation exceeded total demand by 9.4%.  
• FWP also exported 591MWh of renewable power when the wind turbines generated more than the Park could use, saving a significant amount of CO2e off site.

Findhorn Wind Park imports power from the grid when we can’t meet the demand of the Park Ecovillage from our wind turbines. During the last 4 years we saw the loss of 10% of our production capacity with the decommissioning of Moya, our Vestas 75kWwind turbine, combined with various mechanical issues with our other turbines, the latter now thankfully now resolved. As a growing ecovillage we have also seen a 4.5% increase in demand over this period. The increased use of air source heat pumps, electric vehicles and the general building expansion at the Park Ecovillage has been tempered by energy awareness-raising and various efficiency measures.

We are pleased to say that over the past year Findhorn Wind Park has been able to meet 95% of the Ecovillage electricity demand. Private photovoltaic (PV) generation on the site is estimated to have provided an additional 3.5% to 4% of the site’s demand. (The impact of the PV is hard to determine precisely.) Furthermore, we have a 100% renewable import contract and as a consequence the Park Ecovillage produced zero carbon emissions from its electricity usage.

• FWP generated 1,112MWh of renewable electricity from our wind turbines and PV arrays.
• In addition, we estimate private PV systems generated a further 42-48MWh of renewable electricity.
• The Park Ecovillage usage was 1,172MWh, so 98.5% to 99% of total demand was created on site.
• FWP also exported 544MWh of renewable power when the wind turbines generated more than the Park could use, saving a significant amount of CO2e off site.

April 2016 to March 2017

Findhorn Wind Park imports power from the grid when we can’t meet the demand of the Park Ecovillage exceeds production from our wind turbines. For the first seven months of this period we were not able to secure a 100% renewable import contract and as a consequence the Park Ecovillage produced some carbon emissions.

• FWP generated 755MWh of renewable electricity and the Park EcoVillage usage was 1,119MWh.
• Of the total power used at the Park 76% was renewable (from FWP & the grid) and 24% was from non-renewable sources, imported when the wind did not blow strongly enough to meet the Park demand.
• The non-renewable power imported produced 107.8 Tonnes CO2e.
• FWP also exported 311MWh of renewable power when the wind turbines generated more than the Park could use, saving 79.1 Tonnes CO2e off site.
• Overall, Park electricity consumption led to a net carbon footprint of 28.7 Tonnes CO2e. This is 25.6g CO2e per kWh consumed compared to a national average of 254 g CO2e per kWh for the year from April 2016 to March 2017.

April 2017 to March 2018

• FWP generated 999MWh of renewable electricity and the Park EcoVillage usage was 1,233MWh.
• All the power used at the Park was renewable as we had a 100% ‘green’ import contract throughout this period.
• FWP exported 399MWh of renewable power when the wind turbines generated more than the Park could use. This saves CO2 emissions off site, but quantifying this saving requires updated fuel mix data to be released late in 2018. Hopefully the new national average will be significantly lower than the previous year.