Energy companies are cashing in on Government subsidies by building wind farms that will never make any money because they are being constructed on sites with not enough wind, it has been claimed.
Experts said claims of wind farm potential were being overestimated - Wind farm cash-in for renewable energy companies
Experts said claims of wind farm potential were being overestimated
Despite Britain being the windiest nation in Europe, some farms are proposed for sites where companies have exaggerated their potential, a BBC investigation alleged.
To meet EU targets for renewable energy, the Government has subsidised the wind turbine industry by half a billion pounds. Yet companies have not managed to deliver even 0.5 per cent of Britain's electricity needs.
Britain must produce 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, a target that the Government admits it is struggling to meet.
Britain is not consistently windy enough to generate a regular energy supply and there is no way of storing wind energy, a drawback in a country that sometimes experiences strong winds, but often no wind at all.
"It's the power swings that worry us. Over a 20-hour period you can go from almost 100 per cent wind output to 20 per cent."
An over reliance on wind power could result in power failures and higher electricity bills, he said, adding that the network needed to be redesigned.
1 comment:
The wind farm in the Thames estuary, just off the Kent coast is a case in point, last year it was only 28% efficient. But worse than that although it has only been built a couple of years quite a few of the gearboxes had to be renewed because the salt spray gets in them and wrecks them.
I have seen figures that suggest that any wind farm south of Scotland is not likely to be efficient because of the number of days they do not work.
Guess where they are building most of them!!
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