text: scout moor wind farm scout moor wind farm is the second largest onshore wind farm in england . the wind farm , which was built for peel wind power ltd , produces electricity from 26 wind turbines . it has a total nameplate capacity of 65 mw of electricity , providing 154 , 000 mw · h per year ; enough to serve the average needs of 40 , 000 homes . the site occupies 1 , 347 acres ( 545 ha ) of open moorland between edenfield , rawtenstall and rochdale , and is split between the metropolitan borough of rochdale in northern greater manchester and the borough of rossendale in south - eastern lancashire . the turbines are visible from as far away as south manchester , 15 – 20 miles ( 24 – 32 km ) away . a protest group was formed to resist the proposed construction , and attracted support from the botanist and environmental campaigner david bellamy . despite the opposition , planning permission was granted in 2005 and construction began in 2007 . although work on the project was hampered by harsh weather , difficult terrain , and previous mining activity , the wind farm was officially opened on 25 september 2008 after " years of controversy " , at a cost of £ 50 million . in 2012 peel energy sold its 50 % share in the facility to munich re 's asset management division . the other 50 % holding was also purchased by from hgcapital renewable power partners . geography scout moor is an upland moor of peat bog and heather in the south pennines , reaching a maximum elevation of 1 , 552 feet ( 473 m ) at its peak , top of leach . the underlying geology – a mixture of hard rock and soft shales – broadly belongs to the lower coal measures . the rock and shales weather at different rates , giving the area a landscape of " steep escarpments separated by sloping shelves " , although the main dome of the moor is flat and rounded . the moorland covers an area of about 1 , 347 acres ( 545 ha ) , of which less than 21 acres ( 8 . 5 ha ) , about 2 % , is occupied by the wind farm . scout moor quarry , a 250 - acre ( 100 ha ) open - pit mine in edenfield , is used for the extraction of gritstone and sandstone , and formerly had its own railway line . the eastern fringe of scout moor wind farm extends to hail storm hill ( also known as moss ) , one of the 180 marilyns of england . the presence of coal under scout moor led to extensive and unrecorded shallow coal mining in the area during the 18th and 19th centuries . , shafts and coal seams from that period mark the landscape . history one meaning of scout is a long ridge of rock , appearing to " shoot out " horizontally . the word is thought to be a corruption of the old english , meaning " shot " or " to shoot " , suggesting anglo - saxon settlement in the locality at a very ancient time . although the uk government has set a target of 10 % for the proportion of the uk 's electricity produced by renewable energy by 2010 , wind power in the uk has a long history of controversy , with an average approval rate for planning permission of only 28 % for onshore wind farms . scout moor was first identified as an excellent site for a wind farm in 2001 . peel holdings commissioned market research consultants mori to undertake a telephone poll over seventeen days in 2002 , soliciting the opinions of residents in bury , rossendale and rochdale about wind farms in general and scout moor in particular . the results showed that 88 % of respondents thought wind farms were a very or fairly good idea , 72 % thought the scout moor project was a very or fairly good idea , and 63 % stated wind power as the preferred energy source . the proposal to build a wind farm , in a joint venture between united utilities and peel holdings , was announced in 2003 . shortly afterwards a pressure group , the friends of scout and knowle moor , was formed , and on 9 september 2003 representatives of the group attended a meeting of the metropolitan borough of bury 's , ramsbottom and tottington area board to oppose the plans . at the meeting , the spokesperson for the group said that , although they supported the use of alternative energy , they felt that this was the wrong area . among the objections were that the scheme was contrary to the unitary development plan and the green belt , and would adversely affect common land , open countryside and areas of ecological importance and special landscape value . the group also considered that the proposed development would be out of scale with the landscape , adversely affecting peat , water courses and wildlife , and would have a seriously detrimental visual impact , as well as causing a noise nuisance . the second presentation was given by a representative of scout moor wind farm , who argued the need for britain to produce clean green power without harmful emissions , to counter the increasing dangers of global warming . he went on to say that the uk has fewer wind farms than other major industrial countries in europe , even though it is a windier country , and that north west england has a particularly poor record , with only 1 . 3 % of electricity generated from renewable energy . following this meeting the campaign to oppose the proposal gathered momentum , and in november 2003 a protest was held on the moor , led by environmental campaigner professor david bellamy . although bury metropolitan borough council supported the proposal , objections were raised by lancashire county council , rochdale metropolitan borough council and rossendale borough council , and a public enquiry was held in november and december 2004 . the secretary of state for trade and industry gave formal consent to the application for the development of the wind farm in may 2005 , by which time united utilities had sold their share in the project and ended their involvement . a number of conditions were imposed : under section 106 of the town and country planning act ( 1990 ) the applicant will be required to establish a habitat management plan . other conditions have been placed on the development including that : access tracks to all areas to and around the turbine bases shall remain unfenced . access will be allowed on the site for the whole of the life of the development for members of the public and grazing stock . construction will take place outside the bird nesting season . a survey will take place to establish the presence of badgers in the area before development takes place . no development shall take place until there is a full archaeological investigation . more conditions have been attached to the consent and various surveys and assessments must be carried out by the applicant before development can commence . on 20 april 2006 , janet anderson ( member of parliament for rossendale and darwen ) asked margaret beckett , then secretary of state for environment , food and rural affairs , whether the development would meet the provisions of the commons bill regarding the protection of and public access to common land . the reply from jim knight , ( parliamentary under - secretary of state for rural affairs , landscape and biodiversity ) was that " [ t ] hese applications are made under section 147 of the inclosure act 1845 . consideration is given under these provision to the effect of the exchange on the general public 's legal right of access over the land . the future provisions in the commons bill are not relevant . " construction the detailed design for the project was completed during summer 2006 and construction began in january 2007 . the first task was to build a stable access road , but the moor was covered in a layer of peat with a low load - bearing capacity . the whole area had also been subjected to extensive coal mining during the 19th and early 20th centuries , so there was a potential for subsidence . to address these problems , the mining voids were grouted and a floating road was constructed , using a complex system of and to prevent the road from sinking . this was achieved by laying a crushed - gravel base , reinforced with polyester and polypropylene grids , to bridge any potential mine voids and ensure that the weak shear strength of the subsoil was exceeded by the base course material . the wind turbines arrived at scout moor in parts , transported by large goods vehicles along the m66 motorway to edenfield as part of a 76 - day - long convoy of delivery . the weather constrained the wind farm 's construction for the teams from contractor mcnicholas and german turbine supplier . during the final stages , the project manager for mcnicholas was quoted as saying : the weather has undoubtedly been the single biggest challenge we have faced up here . we have worked with wind speeds well in excess of and temperatures as low as minus 12 degrees celsius , which is more like minus 25 with the wind - chill factor . i 've worked on a lot of wind farm construction projects but the adverse conditions have made this one of the most difficult ... we have spent £ 30 , 000 on personal protective equipment for the workers . keeping them warm , fed and moving in these conditions is a massive man management project , but we did it . the wind farm , which stretches across nearly 2 miles ( 3 . 2 km ) of open moorland between edenfield , rawtenstall and rochdale , the largest onshore wind farm in england , was officially opened on 25 september 2008 . as of 26 august 2008 , 21 of 26 turbines had been commissioned and 4 , 000 mw · h of electricity had been exported to the national grid . the turbines are visible from south manchester , 15 – 20 miles ( 24 – 32 km ) away , and are expected to produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 40 , 000 average homes . scout moor has the capacity to produce a total of 65 mw , compared with the 90 mw capacity of kentish flats , the united kingdom 's largest offshore wind farm . the total cost of the scout moor project was £ 50 million , but peel holdings expect the turbines to be in operation for at least 25 years . since its opening , the wind farm " has become a real tourist attraction " ; a calendar showing photographs of the wind farm 's construction has been featured in local news stories . future plans over the lifetime of the wind farm , peel holdings ' energy subsidiary , peel wind power ltd , will provide up to £ 500 , 000 to help landowners create biodiverse areas on the land surrounding the moor . a prime target habitat envisaged to be enhanced and re - created under the habitat enhancement plan is upland blanket bog and important habitats for skylarks and wading birds on the moorland fringe . to receive funding , landowners within an identified area will need to apply to a panel made up of representatives from peel , the local authorities and independent ecological experts . this panel will meet regularly throughout the year . peel wind power are members of and state in their member 's profile that they are actively seeking new opportunities in the renewable energy sector . in november 2008 , the company announced a two - year agreement to look at developing wind farms on land owned by uk coal . if the 14 sites encompassed by the agreement were successfully developed , they would have the potential for 54 wind turbines generating up to 133 megawatts of power . peel energy director steven underwood said : " this agreement is an important step for peel energy , significantly expanding its onshore pipeline and gaining access to some of the uk 's best potential wind farm locations . " the peel group holds a 28 % stake in uk coal . at a private meeting held in may 2007 between developers , uk , and invited local councillors , plans were put forward for another large wind farm consisting of 24 turbines on the moors above nearby haslingden , spanning thirteen stone hill and oswaldtwistle moor . following the meeting catherine pilling , a rossendale liberal democrat councillor , expressed her view that the natural beauty of the rossendale valley was under threat as it was increasingly being targeted by wind farm developers . " our party is very much in favour of renewable energy , " she said , " but rossendale is an area of outstanding beauty , and you have to ask : would they be building a similar thing in the lake district ? " rossendale borough council leader duncan representing the electoral ward of worsley in rossendale , the proposed site of the new wind farm , said he was against wind farms and would be campaigning against it and speaking at the development control committee when it came . the leader of the labour local councillors was also opposed to the plan , saying that he was concerned about the size of the turbines and that the visual impact on the " beautiful west pennine moors " would be devastating . planning permission for the development was granted by council in march 2010 . specifications capacity factor as the figures given in the table above were published before the turbines had been operational for a full year they are projected rather than recorded figures . wind speed is not constant , therefore , a wind farm 's annual energy production never achieves the sum of the generator nameplate ratings multiplied by the total hours in a year . the ratio of actual productivity in a year to this theoretical maximum is called the capacity factor . typical capacity factors are 20 – 40 % , with values at the upper end of the range achieved on particularly favourable sites . the expected capacity factor for scout moor wind farm , calculated from the company 's projected figures , is 27 % .