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Jones Bros lands cutting-edge wind farm contract20th Apr 2011

CIVIL engineering firm Jones Bros has won a £1.9m contract to build the infrastructure for a state-of-the-art wind farm in Scotland.

The family-owned company, headquartered in Ruthin, North Wales, is carrying out access, electrical and cabling work at Millour Hill Community Wind Farm in North Ayrshire.

The 18-megawatt (MW) facility is the first UK wind farm to benefit from new turbine technology developed by industry giant Siemens Renewables.

Siemens is due to deliver six direct drive technology wind turbines to the Millour Hill site later this year. The turbines will be of a similar size to those already constructed at the nearby Dalry Community Wind farm, with a maximum tip height of 125m.

The revolutionary turbines feature only half the parts required for a conventional geared wind turbine and a significantly smaller number of moving parts, allowing for increased output and improved maintainability.

Jones Bros, which opened a Scottish office in Linlithgow in January 2010, is due to begin construction of turbine bases after Easter.

Jones Bros project manager Elgan Ellis said: “Millour Hill is a fascinating project to be involved in as it using some of the very latest wind turbine technology.

“Energy infrastructure, including renewables, is a growing sector for us. We are proud to have built a reputation as one of the UK’s main balance of plant providers for wind farms.”

Millour Hill is the latest wind farm infrastructure contract awarded to Jones Bros.

Last year the company completed a £20m contract at the Crystal Rig II wind farm in the Scottish borders – one of the largest in the UK.

As well Crystal Rig II, Jones Bros also built the infrastructure for Tullo – a seven-turbine wind farm near Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire that was Dutch utility Eneco’s first UK wind farm.

Last month Jones Bros announced it had completed the infrastructure for wind farms at High Haswell in County Durham and Darracott Moor in Devon.

Cheshire-based Community Windpower is developing the Millour Hill facility. Once connected to the grid, it will generate enough power for more than 10,000 homes and save more than 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Turbine installation at the wind farm is planned for December, with commissioning due to be completed in early 2012. The turbines will then be supported by a 15-year service agreement with Siemens.

Christoph Ehlers, managing director of Siemens Renewables in the UK, said: “This is a very significant and exciting project for Siemens and represents the entry into the UK of the Siemens direct drive technology.”

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