http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/7393400/Energy-investor-to-erect-wind-turbines-near-factories.html Energy investor to erect wind turbines near factories
The man who oversaw the sale of British Energy to France's EDF has launched a new venture to build small wind farms near to heavy industrial users of electricity.
By Rowena Mason
Published: 7:11PM GMT 07 Mar 2010
Richard Nourse, managing partner of investment firm Novus Modus, hopes that putting two or three turbines close to factories will allay concerns about wind farms scarring the rural landscape.
The cash for the new company, called Airvolution, will come from a €200m (£180m) fund run by Novus Modus, in which Irish utility ESB is the sole investor.
The former Merrill Lynch banker, who still works part-time for the Government's Shareholder Executive, has shortlisted around a dozen sites for the first wind plants with the help of Savills, the property group. The company is expected to focus on the north of England, where the country has strong wind.
Onshore wind provides investors with much higher returns than any other form of renewable energy and benefits from the same government subsidies. But the major utilities have retreated from onshore projects owing to the lengthy planning battles about whether the wind farms are eyesores and over problems with flight paths.
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