WORK on the Stags Holt Wind Farm will begin this autumn following the signing of a £13.6million turbine contract. Vestas Celtic Wind Technology based in Campbeltown, Argyll, will be supplying the turbines for developer E.On UK. The scheme will see nine Ve

WORK on the Stags Holt Wind Farm will begin this autumn following the signing of a £13.6million turbine contract.

Vestas Celtic Wind Technology based in Campbeltown, Argyll, will be supplying the turbines for developer E.On UK.

The scheme will see nine Vestas V8 turbines sited at Stags Holt, on the outskirts of March. The wind farm will have a capacity of 18MW - enough to power the equivalent of 11,000 homes.

Director of E.On UK Renewables Jason Scagell said: "We're delighted to have signed this agreement with Vestas. This is a major step forward in the development of Stags Holt Wind Farm and we expect to begin work this autumn with completion targeted for autumn next year.

"The scheme will help us to meet the Government's challenging green power targets which were recently highlighted in the Energy Review."

The July 2006, Energy Review calls for 20 per cent of the UK's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020.

E.ON UK is one of the largest renewable generators in the UK. It has stakes in 20 wind farms across the country and owns the largest hydro power station in England and Wales.

Plans for the Stags Holt site were given the go-ahead by Fenland District Council in 2002. It was hoped the original project by Wind Prospect and TXU would be generating power by the spring of 2003.

The official opening of a wind farm at nearby Coldham Farm was held just a few weeks ago. The eight turbines on the Co-operative Group-owned land will supply enough electricity for about 9,000 homes.

Construction has also started on the £6million Ransonmoor Wind farm at Doddington, which should be generating electricity for more than 3,000 homes by spring 2007.