For most people, connection to the National Grid will be an essential part of their turbine installation. If however you currently do not have a mains supply, a wind turbine will effectively augment a diesel generator. Although you would not be able to export electricity, you can still qualify for feed-in tariff payments.
The electricity infrastructure companies or D.N.O.s (Distribution Network Operators) have a legal obligation to provide a grid connection as required. But if the transformer or cables need beefing up, guess who has to pay? Our transformer had been installed in 1966 when we first had mains electricity connected. It was therefore 40 years old, and although functioning perfectly, it was looking its age. However it was only rated at 44 kVA, and for our 80 kW turbine an upgrade was required. Despite the fact that the transformer belonged to the DNO not ourselves, we will have to pay the full cost of replacement. Then there has been the difficulty of dealing with the DNO. These companies, although now owned by various multinational utilities, (in our case Iberdrola of Spain), in practice are the last vestiges of the old national monopolies. As a result, you could not possibly describe them as “customer-facing” in the modern business jargon.
So, after first contact, an engineer arrived, looked around, and promised to reply within 6 weeks. After about 5 weeks (not bad, I thought), a big fat envelope arrived with a priced proposal. It looked excessively complicated, involved installing the new transformer on the opposite side of the farm and stringing a new overhead cable across the farmhouse garden. It was couched in highly technical language, but literate it was not. However I did understand the price. Approximately £35,000!!!
At this point, we did look at the possibilities of supplying our own transformer, and just asking the DNO for a connection. While this is now legally possible, the bureaucratic hoops seemed too difficult, so we asked the DNO to look at the issue again. By this time, I had learnt a good deal more about grid connection, and it also seemed that the DNO engineer was more willing to engage seriously with the problem. So, a new scheme was proposed, and a new price, this time just short of £16,000. It clearly pays to be an informed purchaser!
The electricity infrastructure companies or D.N.O.s (Distribution Network Operators) have a legal obligation to provide a grid connection as required. But if the transformer or cables need beefing up, guess who has to pay? Our transformer had been installed in 1966 when we first had mains electricity connected. It was therefore 40 years old, and although functioning perfectly, it was looking its age. However it was only rated at 44 kVA, and for our 80 kW turbine an upgrade was required. Despite the fact that the transformer belonged to the DNO not ourselves, we will have to pay the full cost of replacement. Then there has been the difficulty of dealing with the DNO. These companies, although now owned by various multinational utilities, (in our case Iberdrola of Spain), in practice are the last vestiges of the old national monopolies. As a result, you could not possibly describe them as “customer-facing” in the modern business jargon.
So, after first contact, an engineer arrived, looked around, and promised to reply within 6 weeks. After about 5 weeks (not bad, I thought), a big fat envelope arrived with a priced proposal. It looked excessively complicated, involved installing the new transformer on the opposite side of the farm and stringing a new overhead cable across the farmhouse garden. It was couched in highly technical language, but literate it was not. However I did understand the price. Approximately £35,000!!!
At this point, we did look at the possibilities of supplying our own transformer, and just asking the DNO for a connection. While this is now legally possible, the bureaucratic hoops seemed too difficult, so we asked the DNO to look at the issue again. By this time, I had learnt a good deal more about grid connection, and it also seemed that the DNO engineer was more willing to engage seriously with the problem. So, a new scheme was proposed, and a new price, this time just short of £16,000. It clearly pays to be an informed purchaser!
