BOSSES behind a South Cumbrian wind farm are celebrating the scheme’s tenth birthday.

Armistead Wind Farm has generated around 308,355 MWh of clean, green electricity since it came online a decade ago, enough to supply almost 106,000 homes for a year.

Banks Renewables’ six-turbine scheme sits to the east of the M6 between junctions 36 and 37 and has the capacity to meet the needs of a city more than twice the size of Lancaster.

It has also donated almost £140,000 for the Armistead Wind Farm Community Fund providing 34 grants to local voluntary groups and charities supporting a range of community and environmental projects.

The fund for local projects is currently £28,000 and grant applications can be submitted at any time.

Earlier this year, the family firm was granted permission by South Lakeland District Council to run the Armistead Wind Farm for an additional 15 years - taking its expected lifetime to a maximum of 40 years.

Jamilah Hassan, community relations manager at The Banks Group, said: “The Armistead Wind Farm has fulfilled the promises by consistently generating significant amounts of green electricity, which is being used to power homes, schools, hospitals and businesses.

“Alongside the environmental and energy security benefits, Armistead is also making a long-term contribution to the well-being of surrounding communities by helping to enhance facilities and the funding support available to local environmental and community projects.

“Generating as much of the energy that we all use via renewable means is a crucial part of the UK’s journey towards its Net Zero targets and will enable the country to decarbonise its power supply and achieve its climate change targets more quickly than would otherwise be possible.”

Potential applicants to the Armistead Wind Farm Fund should contact the fund manager via fundmanager@bankscommunityfund.org.uk or on 0191 378 6342.