TWO wind turbines will power Tesco’s distribution centre in Magor in a bid to help the company reduce its carbon footprint.

The 90 metre-high structures, which were met with objections from nearby residents during the planning stage in 2009, will create up to 2.5 mega watts of power expected to generate half of the electricity at firm's factory on the former Gwent Europark site.

Each turbine is able to produce the equivalent amount of energy needed to power 500 homes and any surplus power generated will be exported back to the national grid to help meet local energy demands.

Jake Ronay, renewables programme manager at Tesco, said they will make a major contribution to the company's electricity needs in a clean and quiet way.

She added each one would save around 3,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere each year, helping Tesco achieve its goal of becoming a zero-carbon company by 2050.

But their installation was not without controversy as residents living in the nearby village of Llandevenny, just one kilometre away from the site, objected to the plans, branding them an “immense eyesore”.

They submitted 31 objection letters to Newport council, complaining the noise and a shadow flicker created by the turbines would affect their quality of life.

Objections were also made by Gwent Wildlife Trust which had concerned about the effect on local wildlife, and Magor and Undy community council said the turbines would be visually intrusive and not financially viable.

But the plans were passed by the council's planning committee on the recommendation of planning officers who said they would have no adverse effect on wildlife or the surrounding landscape.