Ken gives green light to London's first wind park

26 August 2003

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone today gave the final go ahead for Ecotricity, the UK's first green energy supplier, to build London's First wind park at Ford's Dagenham plant. The Mayor's decision endorses planning approval granted by Havering and Barking & Dagenham Councils' Planning Committees. The Councils will now issue notices that finalise the procedure and the companies can proceed with their plans.

Mr Livingstone said, "This scheme is London's first large scale wind power project and I am pleased to endorse the decision of Havering and Barking & Dagenham to give it the go ahead. The scheme will make an important contribution towards making London a more sustainable world city and will help us to achieve some of the key targets in my Energy Strategy. I hope it will encourage other large organisations to consider developing similar schemes on their premises."

Welcoming the Mayor's approval Dale Vince, Ecotricity's Managing Director, said, "We are pleased to have the Mayor's support for this city wind park which we hope will be the first of many. In the long run this is going to make a real difference to the way manufacturers approach their energy demands. The recent power cuts in the United States have highlighted the need for diverse power supplies."

When complete the turbines will provide 100% of the electricity requirements of Ford's new Clean Room Assembly Hall that is being built to produce high-tech diesel engines at the Dagenham engine plant. This will mean that all diesel engines in Ford's European vehicles will be made using wind power.