Bishop’s Castle Wind Turbine
STCE have been working on a project in Bishop’s Castle since 2021 in partnership with Lightfoot Enterprises, a local environmental charity. STCE commissioned consultants from Sharenergy and Carbon Alternatives to find a renewable energy solution for the town. The original plan was for a heat network powered by a wind turbine but the heat network is not currently viable so the team are focussing on delivering the wind turbine whilst retaining renewable heat as a long term goal.
Initial funding came from a grant received from Power to Change. In early 2024 STCE was awarded a substantial Community Energy Fund (CEF) grant to carry out further studies. The project includes ecology and technical studies, and obtaining ’expressions of interest’ from the town’s householders, organisations and businesses – including the Community College and SpArC.
In January 2025, after over 3 years of effort, a planning application for the erection of a 900kW wind turbine was submitted to Shropshire Council.
The proposal had unanimous backing of the Town Council, and huge local support. Public meetings have been held in the town, including one attended by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall which featured on Channel 4s Great Climate Fight in Nov 2023.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall speaking at the Town Forum
Planning permission for the turbine was granted in June 2025. This is great news for the project and for the town. This is one of only a handful of wind turbines to get planning permission in recent years and is one of only two community wind schemes in England in the last ten years, along with the Lawrence Weston turbine in Bristol. However to make the scheme viable we are looking into a new planning permission for either a taller tower or for a slightly larger turbine.
STCE are helping to set up a new society who will build and run the turbine, current work is focussing on legal agreements , finding a supplier and finalising the business case. It is hoped that a share offer will be launched in 2027 with work on site starting by the spring of 2028.
There will be a public meeting to discuss the changes at the Town Hall,
Tues Sept 25th, 7.30 pm.
See Lightfoot Enterprise’s website for more information on this project.