A County Durham construction firm has been appointed as the main contractor for a £14m wind farm in West Yorkshire.Rushyford-based Hall Construction has won the contract from fellow North East business The Banks Group to lead on the development of the Hook Moor wind farm, which will be located on agricultural land near the junction of the M1 and A1.
The five-turbine scheme will be the first wind farm in the Leeds metropolitan area, and is scheduled to be fully operational before the end of the year.
The Hall Construction team has already started work on a number of tasks at the site, including laying access tracks and building the project compound, and will be responsible for putting the required infrastructure in place before the arrival of the turbines on site in the autumn.
They will also take the lead on appointing and managing a number of sub-contractors on the project who will be carry out a range of specialist project tasks in the coming months.
Founded in 1982, Hall Construction has grown to become a successful building and civil engineering company which employs 200 people.
Around 130 of its staff either live in County Durham or are working on local projects, and approximately 80 per cent of its work comes from projects within the southern half of the North East.
Hall Construction has worked with Banks Group on a number of renewable energy, property development and surface mining schemes in the past, and has also recently registered its support with Durham County Council for the Windy Bank wind farm that Banks is looking to progress in Teesdale.
Stephen Bromley, business development manager at Hall Construction, says: “We’re very pleased to continue the good working relationship that Hall Construction has with the Banks Group and look forward to working on the Hook Moor scheme.”
Up to 30 people will work on site during the construction of the Hook Moor wind farm, with local firms able to tender for a range of contracts relating to various aspects of its development, such as accommodation, catering and security.
A community benefits fund worth around £10,000 per year, or £250,000 over the lifetime of the scheme, will also be linked to the wind farm, with the first tranche of funding being made available once it is fully operational.
Phil Dyke, development director at Banks Renewables, adds: “Hall Construction has the experience, resources and skills required to live up to the operating standards we set for all our projects, and we’re very pleased to have been able to extend our working relationship with a fellow County Durham-based firm through the Hook Moor scheme.
“The Hook Moor wind farm will bring direct employment, economic and supply chain benefits to the area in which it is being built, and will also have a substantial long-term impact on the facilities available for local people through the community fund that will be linked to the clean, green energy it produces.
“Modern efficient onshore wind farms such as Hook Moor provide the cheapest available form of renewable energy generation, and they are also already reducing the UK’s reliance on energy imports from unstable overseas markets.”
For further information on the project, please visit www.banksgroup.co.uk/hook-moor