Farewell wind farm

Port Lincoln Times
Thursday 14/2/2008 Page: 9

FROM 47-degree days to below zero Scotland weather - that's the change Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm facilities manager John Fannin will be making next week. Mr Fannin is leaving on February 15, to take on a new role managing the construction of wind farms as installation manager with new German company REpower in Edinburgh, Scotland. "I'll be responsible for the construction of wind farms based around the whole of the United Kingdom," he said. "There's six projects lined up already, including a major one with over 100 turbines.

"REpower is one of the major players in the wind industry, and they're also starting to build projects in Australia - in fact there's a Scottish guy coming over here as an installation manager to build wind farms, at about the same time I'm going over there. "They make the biggest commercially available turbines in the world - at five megawatts, they're two-and-a-half times the size of these (at Cathedral Rocks)." In the past six years Mr Fannin has worked in the wind industry in Denmark, Germany, Spain and France.

"I enjoy meeting new people and experiencing different cultures, and I need to be challenged or else I get bored - moving to Scotland will be another valuable life building experience for me and my family." Mr Fannin said he had enjoyed his time in Port Lincoln and working with his team at the farm, and he hoped to return for holidays to the city where his daughter Lina was born and he and his wife Annie married.

"I got married here on the Tunarama weekend, 2006 - it was 47 degrees. "We had our daughter on the 18th of June 2007, and I would like to bring her back one day to see where she was born. "I've made a good network of friends here, being a member of the Port Lincoln Yacht Club and Flinders Hockey Club. "I really enjoy the town, the environment - Port Lincoln is a great place to live. "Things I'll miss are the weather, the people, the sailing and the relaxed nature of the whole community. "Port Lincoln's definitely going to move forward in the future with new mines and schools, and stage three of the marina - we just need people on the council that move with the times and allow the town to develop to its full potential."