BANKS Renewables, part of The Banks Group, has secured a deal with The Co-operative Bank to part-fund the construction of two new Yorkshire wind farms in which Banks is making a total investment of £21m.
Work on the Hazlehead and Marr schemes is set to begin shortly after Durham-based Banks secured the largest investment in the renewables market that The Co-operative Bank has made to date.
The company is now actively looking at the same project finance model to fund a number of similar projects that it currently has at different stages of the planning process.
The three-turbine Hazlehead wind farm is situated on formerly derelict brownfield land to the west of Barnsley, whilst the Marr scheme comprises four turbines five miles to the west of Doncaster.
When fully operational, the schemes will produce enough renewable energy to meet the annual power requirements of up to 9,000 homes.
Banks expects the two schemes to be activated by the autumn.
Neil Brown, group commercial director at The Banks Group, said: "Securing the largest investment that the Co-operative Bank has ever made in the renewables industry not only represents a validation of the strength of the UK market but also of the business model that Banks Renewables is following in this area.
"We are committed to becoming one of the UK's leading owner/operators of onshore wind farms, and the investment model that we have used to secure this funding could provide the template for a portfolio of future sites that we are currently progressing across the North of England and Scotland."
James Sutcliffe, senior manager in The Co-operative Bank's renewable energy team, added: "We're delighted to have given our backing in support of Banks Renewables' vision for the renewable energy sector and look forward to building on the close working relationship that's been formed between the two organisations."
Meanwhile, Forewind, the development partner for the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm zone, will begin its preliminary onshore surveys this week as part of its investigations into potential corridors for the onshore underground cables that will connect its first wind farm project with the national grid at the Creyke Beck substation near Cottingham.
As well as investigating cable route options, the work will assess possible locations for the new converter stations required for the grid connection.
The 9000 sq km Dogger Bank zone is located more than 125km off the Yorkshire coast.
Forewind's target for the zone is an installed capacity of 9GW of offshore wind farm projects by 2020, however the zone has the potential for up to 13GW - almost 10% of the UK's projected electricity requirements.
The zone will be developed in up to 12 projects and the survey work is for the first of the projects, known as Dogger Bank Project One.