A POWER company has completed upgrading wind turbines to replace an old design on a North-East wind farm.

The E.ON wind farm near Hetton-le-Hole on Wearside had featured four two-bladed wind turbines that were built in 1997.

The new scheme now features four state-of-the-art machines which have the capacity to produce up to 8MW of power - almost three times as much as the old design.

E.ON project developer Gary Simmonds said: "The turbine design at Great Eppleton was rather unusual in that they had two blades rather than three.

"We’ve now updated the wind farm with the latest technology, in a process known as a repower.

"When running at full capacity the new turbines will produce enough electricity for more than 5,000 homes and displace the emission of 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year."

He added: "In addition to the new turbines, work will soon be finished on a settlement pond on the site which will provide a haven for wildlife, including local vole populations."

The settlement pond follows sponsorship of a water vole survey in the area surrounding the Great Eppleton site.

An E.ON community fund for the Great Eppleton community is being finalised and details will be released soon.