THE MCGOWANS, PERTHSHIRE, SCOTLAND

"We own a mixed livestock and arable farm in Perthshire, Scotland.  About two years ago we decided to lower our carbon footprint and reduce our energy costs. We thought a wind turbine may offer a solution. Being able to take control over a variable cost such as rising electricity bills was a big motivation.

We have installed a Gaia-Wind turbine which powers a water bore hole supplying four farms with water, including the cattle sheds and the farmhouse.

Choosing a small wind turbine

We have a low wind speed site of 4.9m/s (11mph) and discovered that the Gaia-Wind 133-11 kW was the best suited turbine for these conditions.  It has a proven track record and after visiting several other makes of turbine also seemed the quietest.

Reliability was very important and having Gaia-Wind technicians able to service and maintain the turbine locally was a great selling point.

Making money, even on a bad day

Since it was installed our turbine has produced an average of 21,170 kWh per year providing substantial feed-in tariff payments. About 73% of this energy is used on the farm and the rest is sold to the national grid. Our electricity bills have reduced by nearly a third and the extra income has helped us enormously in making farm improvements.  

We are very happy with the turbine. It doesn’t bother our animals, and it’s great to see it turning on a horrid wet, windy day and making us money. Every farm should have one!

This experience has really sold us on the idea of renewable energy, and our plan is now to install a biomass heating system in a shed that we’re converting into a self-catering unit."