Pupils energised by Gruig wind farm

The schools are working together on a shared education project educating the pupils on renewable energy. The pupils were given a tour of the wind farm, with the visit designed to integrate sustainable development into education and help pupils develop an understanding of the challenges, impacts and responsibilities of making lifestyle choices that reduce our environmental impact.

RES Community Relations Manager Victoria Graham said: “The school children really enjoyed visiting the wind farm and we were very encouraged by the interest they showed in the environment and their awareness of how the lifestyle choices we all make impact on our natural resources and the quality of our environment.”

Class teacher, Donna Donnelly St Patrick’s P.S commented: “While the children can investigate wind energy, read books and articles about wind turbines and research the topic using the internet, nothing is more effective than actually experiencing the reality of the wind farm while speaking to the expert staff and engineers in their unique work environment. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and hope to return again sometime in the future.”

Since 1995 RES has hosted 30,000 visitors to its owned or operated wind farms throughout Northern Ireland. The visits are aimed at improving pupils’ awareness of sustainable energy and renewable energy technologies in line with curriculum requirements.

Gruig Wind Farm was built by RES in 2009 and consists of 10 turbines totalling 25MW. The wind farm is now owned by Glennmont Partners but operated and maintained by RES on their behalf.