A group of Gamlingay residents has installed a single 33m diameter wind turbine just outside the village, operational in June 2013. This is a local project, by the community and for the community, that is significantly offsetting the village’s carbon footprint. Part of the profit from the turbine’s operation will be used to provide a regular income to the village – to be spent on local charities and community projects, hence the title ‘Community Turbine’. The project was funded entirely by local residents and businesses.
We are very grateful to all the villagers who have supported us with their time and skills and, just as importantly, for all the moral support we have received.
We are very grateful to all the villagers who have supported us with their time and skills and, just as importantly, for all the moral support we have received.
Gamlingay Community Turbine Ltd has pledged to give 10% of its net income to a community fund. The fund has already made several grants to benefit the community and we are anxious to receive more applications.
Applications for funding from the GCT Tithe Fund can be made by any individual or organisation within the Parish of Gamlingay. However, applications should benefit more than a single person or family; and GCT would prefer applications that would result in an environmental benefit as well as providing or improving a social amenity.
Applications for funding from the GCT Tithe Fund can be made by any individual or organisation within the Parish of Gamlingay. However, applications should benefit more than a single person or family; and GCT would prefer applications that would result in an environmental benefit as well as providing or improving a social amenity.
For more information, please read
the Tithe Fund Notice
and apply using
the Funding Application form
Quite an Achievement for a Small Cambridgeshire Village – Update June 2025
- Gamlingay Community Turbine (GCT) has been running since 2013. This is an update on its performance, effect on CO2 emissions and efficiency.
- Over its first 11 years it generated about 6,550MWh of electricity.
- Putting this into perspective Gamlingay village domestic electricity consumption is about 47,960MWh over 11 years. This means the GCT has, averaged over this period, generated the equivalent of over 13% of the village's domestic electricity.
- It also translates to 2.5 million tons of CO2. This calculation needs some explanation. The amount of electricity put into the grid is easy enough; the problem is how to convert this into carbon offsets. The obvious approach is to just use the average CO2 footprint of electricity in the UK. However, this does not reflect what happens in practice: more wind-generated power going into the grid does not reduce the input from nuclear, coal or renewables. Invariably it means less gas is burned as this is the source that is easiest to vary according to demand and variations in renewable input. Therefore we have used the carbon footprint of gas-generated electricity in these calculations**.
- In order to predict how much electricity we would generate we had to estimate the 'load factor' for the turbine with the winds experienced at the site. Load factor is simply the electricity generated as a percentage that which would be generated if the turbine ran continuously at full power (obviously not possible). Over this 11-year period the turbine averaged out at just over 20%. This is within the range expected at the start of the project.
Overall, we can count the Gamlingay Community Turbine a successful project to date. Its operational performance is as expected and CO2 offsets good.
* Based on 1,616 households in Gamlingay and a figure of 2,700kWh per household in the UK, Source.
** Based on 375 gCO2eq/kWh. Source.
This website provides information and news about the turbine and is frequently updated. We would be grateful for enquiries from anyone with ideas on how the income for the village might be spent.
Registered Address: Gamlingay Community Turbine Ltd, 39 Church Street, Gamlingay, Sandy SG19 3JJ
