A BRAND new wind turbine is powering a factory with green energy.

The turbine, based at the Kingspan factory in Greenfield Business Park, was set up in mid August.

Owned by Sirius Renewable Energy, it should be able to supply 1.8 million kilowatt hours of energy for the factory per year.

And when it is not powering Kingspan, during the factory's Christmas shutdown or over other quieter periods, the power it generates will feed into the national grid.

Nick Davies, director at Sirius Renewable Energy, told the Leader: "It is our eighth turbine in the UK and this project has been ongoing for a number of years as we went through the planning process.

"There were two turbines proposed initially for the site but we have been through a consultation and we have looked at what the most suitable scheme would be for the community.

"We won't be proceeding with the second turbine on site."

He added the number of turbines, as well we the scale of the final one, was also determined by the scheme's visibility to radars at both Hawarden Aerodrome and John Lennon Airport.

The final turbine stands at 78 metres tall, from the ground to the tip of the blade at its highest arc.

Mr Davies said Kingspan aims to have all of its operations powered by renewable energies by 2020, and that the turbine was a 'significant step' towards that goal.

He added: "Kingspan is an important company to support - it is a significant employer in the area.

"Providing them with lower cost energy helps to support the factory and employment in the area."