Picture post: Winds of change keep blowing across Yorkshire

Wind Power, a clean renewable energy producing no greenhouse gas, consumes no water, and uses little land. The natural flow of air passing through each blade and with each turn, it helps to powers a generator which in turn makes electricity.
This large EDF Engery Rusholme Wnd Farm, near Newland, Selby, North Yorkshire, is estimated an annual electricity production of 51 Million Kwh, that is the equivalent to electricity consumption of over 11,000 households.

Camera Details: Nikon D4, Len 12-24mm, Shutter speed 1/500sec, Aperture f/8, ISO 160, (timelapse image) using an Nikon MC-36a intervalometer with a frame rate set at 2 secs, taking over 400 images which are then stacked during editing. Picture James Hardisty — Wind Power, a clean renewable energy producing no greenhouse gas, consumes no water, and uses little land. The natural flow of air passing through each blade and with each turn, it helps to powers a generator which in turn makes electricity. This large EDF Engery Rusholme Wnd Farm, near Newland, Selby, North Yorkshire, is estimated an annual electricity production of 51 Million Kwh, that is the equivalent to electricity consumption of over 11,000 households. Camera Details: Nikon D4, Len 12-24mm, Shutter speed 1/500sec, Aperture f/8, ISO 160, (timelapse image) using an Nikon MC-36a intervalometer with a frame rate set at 2 secs, taking over 400 images which are then stacked during editing. Picture James Hardisty

They have gone on to dominate the local landscape and help provide electricity to thousands of homes, but these wind turbines in East Riding were once the cause of considerable controversy.

When they were proposed back in 2006, the Rusholme Wind Farm, near Newland, Selby, resulted in more than 500 objections being sent to local councillors considering whether to give the scheme the green light. But the project also got more than 1,200 letters of support and after being approved by Selby District Council, the 12 wind turbines, which are 60m-high and have 40m blades, started producing energy in 2010.

This fantastic image of the turbines in action was taken by Yorkshire Post photographer James Hardisty using a Nikon MC-36a intervalometer with a frame rate set at two seconds, taking over 400 images which were then stacked during editing.

In 2014, owner EDF Energy sold an 80 per cent stake in the wind farm to China’s state-owned nuclear power giant, China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN). EDF said at the time that it would continue to buy all the electricity generated by the wind farm as part of its commitment to supplying the UK with renewable energy.

Stakes in two other EDF wind farms, one near Peterborough and the other close to Newcastle upon Tyne were also sold to CGN in the same deal. CGN said it was “proud to supply clean energy to British people”.

Yorkshire has a key role in the development of renewable energy for the UK and it was announced last year that the world’s biggest wind farm is to be built off the coast of East Yorkshire and is due to open in 2020. Hornsea Project One will cover 157 sq miles and will be capable of generating energy to power more than one million homes.

They may look big to those passing by but this group of Yorkshire turbines are just a small part of the efforts that has is already seeing the country generating more power from wind than coal.

Technical details: Nikon D4 camera with a 12mm-24mm lens and an exposure of 1/500sec @ f/8, ISO 500.