They've stood as landmark at the entrance to Penryn for nearly 20 years but from next week the wind turbines on Jubilee Wharf will be there no more.
One of the four wind turbines has already gone and on Saturday the rest will go as they move away to make way for the new solar trees.
One turbine went to its new home a few weeks ago, and on May 27 they're going to start removing the rest.
They’re all going to be maintained and put up in other locations, so they will live on and won’t be wasted - this includes towers, generators and inverters.
The wind turbines have demonstrated to people that they’re easy to be around – and that micro-generation by wind is possible in a built-up environment.
When they were installed they were referred to as ugly and ill-conceived, but since then the innovative design has become a much loved landmark.
Robotmother, who owns and runs Jubilee Wharf and Jubilee Warehouse, says it places the environment and sustainability at the heart of all its decision-making processes.
"We are a private company and when making our decisions we obviously must balance what is affordable with the best long-term solutions for our buildings and those who live and work here," said a spokesperson.
"The Proven wind turbines have reached their end of life at Jubilee Wharf. The repair costs are prohibitively high, and we have to pay Business Rates on the wind turbines. As they were installed in 2006, there is no Feed-In-Tariff associated with the turbines.
"So, they cost us a lot to keep them running, and we don’t get enough revenue.
"With this in mind, we want to replace them with another type of micro-generation. Solar trees, set at the right height to reduce shading on the units and with optimisers and angled properly to maximise the output and cope with the presence of Brain of Brian, are our best option."
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When it was built many of the innovative features at Jubilee Wharf were unusual. For example, photovoltaic panels were very expensive and there were no government incentives to install them.
"It’s great that things have moved on since 2006 and many of these innovations are now commonplace. In 2011 we did install PVs on the highest building, where the roof had been designed for this, but unfortunately the zinc roof of the smaller building is not able to support an array of PVs, which is another reason for having them on the quayside," they said.
Whilst the work is being done on the quayside, Muddy Beach Café will remain open all weekend from 9am ‘til late for food and drink.
You can email Muddy beach for bookings bookings@muddybeach.com or visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MuddyBeachPenryn/.
Use the courtyard entrance to the café, and you can pop in to see Maya Ullman at Jubilee Wharf Gallery for her Open Studios at the same time!
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