Blades sunbathing after some long days travelling
Welcome to
Kirk Hill Monthly Updates
On this blog, you’ll find all Kirk Hill Wind Farm news.
Timeline
2025
FEB
Kirk Hill generated 4,688MWh of electricity in January - that’s enough to power over 1,500 typical households for a year. January’s generation helped to avoid 2,494 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Members saved a total of £117,000 on their electricity bills.
JAN
During December and January, Enercon has been working through their 6-monthly ‘grease’ maintenance on all the turbines, ensuring all the moving parts are lubricated and carrying out checks on other components. The annual High Voltage maintenance was also carried out on the site switchgear in the substation at the start of January.
Check out savings stats for Kirk Hill’s generation in December below.
2024
NOV
October was another good month of generation with high winds – Kirk Hill Wind Farm generated 5,079 MWh for members which resulted in a total of £64,707 energy bill savings.
The ‘availability’ rate
The ‘availability’ rate of a turbine is the percentage of time during which it is in a position to generate subject to there being sufficient wind – in other words, times when it doesn’t have any faults that prevent it from generating. Availability calculations started in July when the site was handed over to the operational team, and monthly availability has increased from 88% for July to 98.2% for November.
All mechanical and electrical machines of any type have faults and require maintenance periodically so some downtime is to be expected and was factored into the projections used in the share offer. We have a very robust industry-standard contract with Enercon which incentivises them to keep the turbines at a high level of availability, and it’s been great to see the improvements in availability that we’d expected over the past few months.
OCT
We’ve continued to see good performance from the turbines at Kirk Hill in September. Kirk Hill members saved over £47,000 on their energy bills and the wind farms generated over 3,700 MWh, saving almost 2,000 Tonnes of CO₂. That’s the same as driving around the world in a petrol car 395 times. The yields and corresponding savings will naturally vary month to month according to the weather, and we can expect to see some annual variation as well, so it’s important not to place too much importance on what happens in any one particular period – this is a 25 year project.
All that said, total performance from the start of June to the end of September is in excess of the most optimistic projection, thanks to above-average winds over this period.
The turbines continue to experience periodic breakdowns, which is the case for any wind farm and any type of machine. This is to be expected, and a higher rate of breakdowns and minor issues is also normal for a machine during the initial period of operation. Given that we have eight turbines at Kirk Hill, we won’t always be able to give a running commentary on each issue that you might spot on your dashboard – but rest assured that Ripple, the asset managers RES, and Enercon, are all coordinating daily to ensure that issues are resolved as quickly as possible. This is backed up by contracts and incentives, standard to the wind sector, to maximise uptime and yield.
Our Director of Projects, Simon, explains in more detail here.
During one of his regular visits, Project Manager Jamie was able to bury a time capsule prepared by pupils from Bishop Cornwall Primary School, which is a Kirk Hill Coop Member. Watch him bury the time capsule in this video.
SEP
Jamie has been to site recently and brings you this video update. So far and up to the end of August the site has produced 12.7 million kWh, which has resulted in combined member savings of £132,000 and has saved 6750 tonnes of CO2. The Community Fund is also building up, we are delighted to be able to donate around £94,000 per year, split between two charities who both do great work in the local communities - Dailly Community Development Trust, and North Carrick Community Benefit Company. The first payment will be made in May 2025.
August was a very good month for wind farms! Kirk Hill generated over 5000 MWh (or 5 million kWh), over 1.5 times the most optimistic projection for the month. Since the turbines were fully commissioned, performance to date is also in excess of projected yield.
AUG
Almost 400 Kirk Hill members visited their wind farm for the first time at the Members’ Day. Want a behind-the-scenes look at what they saw? Check out our virtual tour below. We’ve also collated all of the questions that were asked on the day into a Q&A document. The site is now being monitored by 24/7 control rooms operated by RES, Enercon and SPEN (Scottish Power Energy Networks). Rest assured, the site and Kirk Hill members’ turbines are in safe hands. Any operational issues will be picked up immediately and resolved as swiftly as possible.
There will be times when the wind farm or a turbine will go offline for any number of reasons. This is entirely normal and has been factored in when calculating the estimated energy generation when members bought their shares. When there is a significant issue that members need to be aware of, we will let them know via the news feed on their dashboard. Most minor issues, however, will be dealt with by RES, Enercon and SPEN as part of the normal and ongoing operational management of the site, and therefore members will not need to be notified. Simon, Chief Projects Officer, talks about this more in the video below.
JUL
We’re really excited to host Kirk Hill Members’ Day on site on the 10th of August to give members the chance to see their turbines in real life. If you aren’t attending, keep posted for updates from the day and a special site tour from project manager Jamie. In exciting news, Kirk Hill Wind Farm is now in the operational stage.
Plus, we’re delighted to member dashboards up and running so they can see their wind farm generation in real time, with further features to be added to give more detail in the future. You can check out everything the Ripple Dashboard has to offer in the video below.
JUN
Despite most of the turbines going through their initial 300-hour commissioning service and being out of service at times throughout the month, Kirk Hill has been running well this month. Generation figures have substantially exceeded the P50 (i.e. most optimistic yield for June).
In June, Kirk Hill has generated just over 3,400,000 kWh (or just over 3.4 GWh). Total carbon savings come in at the equivalent of an average petrol car driving around the world 315 times! From these estimates, every watt owned in Kirk Hill in June generated 0.1892 kWh. Meaning members who own 900 watts (or 0.9 kW) of Kirk Hill would have received approximately 170kWh. We can’t wait to see what the next few months of generation bring and members are looking forward to receiving their energy bill savings soon.
MAY
May has been an incredible month for Kirk Hill members as we reach the final part of our construction journey. All 8 Kirk Hill turbines are now generating electricity and we’re heading into an important testing period for the turbines. This is entirely normal once they have been commissioned. Project Manager Jamie said a heartfelt thank you to the members and celebrated the moment here.
We anticipate that generation figures on Kirk Hill members’ dashboards will begin next month, followed by more in-depth data afterwards. We’re aiming for the first members savings to be displayed and added to electricity bills as a credit in July.
We celebrated the final turbine being commissioned, marking the end of an incredible journey, by turning Kirk Hill into a beacon of positive climate action. We displayed a message of thanks to all members.
Watch the moment Turbine 5 came alive.
FEB & MAR
All the physical works on the grid connection has now been completed by SP Energy Networks and their contractors. Now, their protection engineers are carrying out the final stage of the work to set up and test the communication links and safety equipment. Energisation is still forecasted for the end of April which will allow the turbines to be commissioned in May.
As energisation approaches, work has been non-stop. All 6km of the grid connection route is now fully installed. Alongside, protection and commissioning work for the connection now underway and on track.
In addition, electrical fit-out works in the substations have been completed, as well as all local road resurfacing. Things really are on the final stretch now.
2023
JAN & FEB
Things are moving at pace ahead of the switch-on at Kirk Hill. Reports confirm that all 70 poles for grid connection have now been installed. Alongside, 4km of 5km of overhead line conductors have been successfully installed on poles. Plus, the electrical fit-out works in both substations are nearing completion.
Specialised fibre joint kits and cables are now on site, so SP Energy Networks has made progress on the grid connection. Energisation is still on track for the end of April, with the turbines due to be commissioned in May. Work is also underway resurfacing the public road near the site and reinstating verges on the access route
DEC & JAN
Progress at Kirk Hill continues to deliver results. Last month the 1km underground cabling portion of the grid connection was completed. Plus, low-voltage standby power supplies are now live in both substations, ready for commissioning control equipment.
The site looks a little emptier too as all of Enercon’s tools, containers and cabins have been transported off-site. Energisation is now programmed for April, and the subsequent commissioning in May. As we edge ever closer to these milestone moments, rest assured we will keep you regularly updated.
NOV & DEC
The last two months have seen some fantastic progress. We now have all eight turbines up which marks the end of turbine construction at Kirk Hill wind farm. This is a huge milestone for the build of the project. Enercon and the wider site team worked hard to find a gap in the wind in the early hours last week to lift the blades onto T8 and get all the turbines completed.
Now the work turns to the grid, to date there are 32 poles installed on the grid connection route and 5km of on-site cabling installed, tested and terminated into the the turbines. In case you missed it.
Jamie also gave an update from site on the morning of T8 construction, you can watch this (and some epic drone shots of the site)
OCT
We are making strong progress onsite with T1, T2 and T7 complete, despite windy conditions. Enercon’s electrical team have started wiring up cables in the completed turbine towers. T1 now has all of the electrics installed, and the team is now doing the same for T2. Across the site, the electric cables are being pulled into the turbine bases. We also have Power Systems onsite with the client substation and switch gear now delivered, which is now getting commissioned.
Watch our wrap up video on the past month here.
This month, Kirk Hill has been shortlisted as a finalist for prestigious Judges Award and The Best Engagement Award in The Scottish Green Energy Awards 2023. We look forward to representing all of the fantastic Kirk Hill owners at the awards ceremony later this year.
SEP
September saw huge milestones for Kirk Hill. All of the turbine equipment was delivered safely on site and in their final locations. It’s now time for the big lifts to assemble the turbine parts.
Turbine 1 was fully constructed with Turbine 2 well underway! These impressive machines have a steel tower almost 70m tall, with a blade span reaching 92m from tip to tip! They also each weigh over 300 tonnes!
As you can see from our photos, Turbine 1 is setting a high standard for the rest to come. We can’t wait to see more of your turbines standing in their full glory. We have updated the timeline for Kirk Hill’s progress.
Check out our September update from Turbine 2 with Project Manager, Jamie.
AUG
If you follow us on our social channels or community, you’ll have seen plenty of action happening across Kirk Hill Wind Farm over the last few weeks. The process is to get all of the equipment for each turbine in the correct location before starting to construct them. So were entering a major period of deliveries and offloading! A lot had happened over the past month, so for a quick breakdown of Kirk Hill’s progress, check out this video summarising the updates.
What had been delivered so far?
Hubs, nacelles and generators
The hubs, nacelles and generators were the first turbine parts to arrive on site. As abnormal loads, they were transported at night with a police convoy from the Port of Ayr. You can see the cranes offloading the hub, nacelle and generator for Turbine 5 here. And for a closer look at these parts, we managed to get up close to the generator ring, the hub and half the nacelle at Turbine 3, which you can see here.
Turbine Towers
There was a late night turbine tower part delivery of parts S1-3 to Turbine 2. For an understanding into how these parts will create the tower, we talk through it here.
Turbine Blades
Turbine blades basking in the sun at Kirk Hill Wind Farm
Foundations
Back to the turbine foundations, we talk through the backfilling progress at Turbine 8, the most challenging turbine of the wind farm. You’ll also be able to see the overall Kirk Hill layout to put everything into perspective – the eight turbines are much more spread out than you might think!
JUN & JUL
Kirk Hill Wind Farm had some time in the spotlight and was featured on Channel 4 News. The piece showed the Climate Change Committee’s urge to the government to support the country’s transition to net zero, with Kirk Hill featuring as a simple solution that enables people to power their homes using their own green electricity, whilst reducing their carbon footprint.
Project Manager Jamie took advantage of the beautiful weather at the Port of Ayr and showed us around the turbine blades before they got transported to site.
He also gave us a quick run through the different blades for each turbine which you can catch up on here.
Other News
Meanwhile, on site the turbine foundations were well underway, with the last bit of grouting over the final part of the foundation that connects the tower to the S5s coming to an end. You can see a full update of the T8 foundation work here. So all the foundations were complete, ready for turbine deliveries.
The team working on the T8 foundation pour.
We also capped layers of stone on the surrounding roads to ensure that they are strong enough to hold heavy loads as we start transporting the equipment onsite.
In anticipation of the first parts of the turbines arriving at the end of the month, Enercon, the turbine manufacturer, started getting their teams on site to test some of their lifting equipment.
We are still looking at an early 2024 switch on date – with the first turbine commissioned in January. Due to uncertainty around energisation timings, we were unable to fix a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) price with suppliers at this point.
The cooperative decision
The Kirk Hill cooperative board has therefore agreed the PPA price should be fixed from 1st April. This will be when Kirk Hill members’ savings rate for the first year will apply. At this point, we will set the wind farm’s operating costs for the year, taking into account all revenues received for generation before that date. We would therefore expect members’ monthly savings in the first year from April to be slightly higher, resulting from any early revenue received. We will set out more details when we have more clarity over the numbers in the spring.
As a Ripple member, you’ll be able to see all of the project updates on your Community Dashboard. If you don’t already follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok, our socials are another fast and easy way to see the action onsite over the next few months.
MAY
May was a busy month for Kirk Hill with plenty going on onsite, as well as the arrival of all turbine parts.
Sarah visited the site and walked us through the different stages of the foundation prep. As you’ll see in the video, the foundations are in the final prepping stages and are in the process of being backfilled.
With support from Steven Parker, the ecological clerk of works for the project, you’ll also see how we are planting some compensatory broadleaf, slow growing trees around T1 where we had to remove some pine trees to make way for the turbine. These new trees will offer more biodiversity than the previous forest land.
Steady progress
To prepare for the arrival and construction of the turbines, we made space across the site to accommodate for the cranes and loading lorries. As we’ll connect the blades onto the hub on the ground before lifting it up onto the turbine, we need a lot of room. After construction is complete, we’ll remove some of the hard standing to make it less impactful.
The final bit of the foundation, the S5 transition pieces, were also installed. Now, we’re ready to start building the rest of the turbine.
Tracking the ships on vesselfinder
Meanwhile, we were able to watch in real time as ships containing the nacelles and hubs docked in at Port of Ayr on the 15th and 16th May. The blades then arrived slightly later on the 18th. You can see the different parts being unloaded here, with Will talking you through the different bits of equipment.
If you need a reminder of what the various components are, check out our blog.
Unloading the ships at Port or Ayr
At last, when all the turbine parts were offloaded, the weather was in our favour and we had to take this stunning photo:
As if the offloading of the turbine parts wasn’t tricky enough, we needed to then transport the 45m long blades to site. We carried out a ‘long load test drive’ from Port of Ayr to Kirk Hill. As you’ll have seen from previous videos, we have had to make extra turning space for these long loads to fit. The test drive went well so the turbine parts will be able to get to Kirk Hill safely and securely over the summer!
