Enough energy to power all of Thanet some many times over. This is what we can expect from a series of installations of Wind Turbines of the coast of Kent. The collected power of the installed turbines that Kent will be part of will, starting this year, reach a high of 1.3 GW (Gigawatts) of energy. This is made up of 300 MW (Megawatts) from the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm added to the Gigawatt from the London Array which covers part of the Margate coast.

The building work for the London Array will be carried out at port Ramsgate according to the wikipedia (I was not able to independently verify that) but I can state that Ramsgate will become maintenance base creating up to 100 new jobs in the area. This will be in addition to the jobs created by the construction of the array itself and the work created by Warwick Energy's 80 or so turbines (due to start construction this year).

"Thanet District Council said 800 new jobs were expected during the three-year construction period, with another 100 when Ramsgate becomes the maintenance base for the wind farm."
Offshore wind farms get go-ahead, BBC News, Monday, 18 December 2006, 15:50 GMT

But what does it mean to us living in Thanet?

The prime impacts are that:

(a) The building work will cause a temporary rise in traffic mainly through building works.
(b) Thanet will be producing enough renewable and carbon free energy to cater all of it's own energy needs.
(c) Jobs will be created aiding the economic regeneration of the area.
(d) We have to look at the turbines regardless of our feelings on their aesthetic form.

According to the study carried out by Warwick Energy there is only a minimal or negligible impact expected on the environment and the creatures that inhabit it making this instillation a very clean one indeed. However, we can expect to see a large influx of heavy plant and transportation (lorries, trucks etc) in the short term and this could have an impact on traffic conditions. Already the main ways in and out of Thanet are choked at prime times so now more than ever is a good time to change your working pattern to include more off peak car journeys.

On that note I have been told that often a half hours overtime at the end of the day can result in a reduced travel time so that the time one arrives home is equivalent to when one would arrive home anyway. I have no idea if this holds true for other people and imagine that distance to travel home and exact finishing times might have a significant impact on the end result.

However, once the initial bump in road usage is over we will be in a position of significantly reducing our carbon footprint. Currently we in the west (yes even us in Thanet) use resources at a rate that would require more than one planet if every human acted like us. The result is that the planetary environment is changed and some of those changes we are not going to like. For example sufficient global warming will divert the Golf Stream and make England a frozen wasteland.

If you are interested in working out your contribution (or lack thereof) to global warming and a permanent British Winter there are a number of Calculators available.

There is no debating that the job market is Thanet is shocking. A sure sign that work is simple not available is the increased rate at which the uninformed start to whine about "dole scroungers" (something that has become something of a common chant of discontent in some parts of Kent). But as I told the BBC last year you have to take responsibility for the now and can not simply "terminate" those people that come to need benefits through whatever reason that may be.

The new jobs created will contribute to the "golden arrow of consumerism" which is what drives the western economy. With that we get increased spending which leads to unmappable but generally good increases in economic activity for everyone. Admittedly this is not the biggest boost we have ever had but a boost it is.

When all the building work is done and the "green energy" is in use we will be left with a number of sites filled with wind turbines to look at. Some people consider these things to be ugly. Personally I think they look better than coal powered stations but others might not agree. Fortunately off shore wind farms have the benefit of distance to mitigate the visual impact.

The chances are, however, that we will simply get used to them. In the same way we have grown accustomed to graffiti, cheap "art", litter and derelict buildings. I imagine that we will hear a great deal of unfocused complaining about "eye sores" on the coast will arising from a minority of outspoken critics (81% of people are in favour of wind farms). I also imagine that this will soon be forgotten as soon as something new comes along to complain about.

I feel relatively neutral to the subject of seeing these wind farms springing up around the coast. If a little extra traffic and a few man made objects on the coast are the price of not living in a Canadian style permanent winter then this seems a very low price to pay. A price I am happy to pay.

What about you?