LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Stripe

Donate via Paypal

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

New figures blow a giant hole in SNP’s wind turbine policy 

Credit:  By Mark Howarth, Mail on Sunday, 19/05/13 ~~

The SNP’S energy policy has been branded a ‘fantasy’ after new figures revealed wind turbines in Scotland are the most inefficient in Britain.

Ministers insist our more blustery weather will help turn us into the ‘green powerhouse of Europe’.

But Government statistics show a typical windmill sited north of the Border produces less electricity than one anywhere else in the UK.

They also reveal that investors are increasingly putting their money into English projects instead.

Independent energy consultant John Large said: ‘Offshore turbines tend to be more efficient because there is a steadier, more predictable supply of wind out at sea with less chance of turbulence. The east coast of England is the most ideal environment in the UK to place these.

‘Firstly, the water is shallower, which means the machinery is easier and cheaper to install and, secondly, the flatter topography of Norfolk and Lincolnshire, for example, gives the wind a clearer, undisturbed run. Scotland does not enjoy these natural advantages, which is why most of its capacity is still located onshore.

‘These figures show that turbines in England are now consistently outperforming those in Scotland.’

The statistics from the UK’s Department for Energy and Climate Change how regional variations in wind farm efficiency. Load factor gives a measure how much of a turbine’s installed capacity is being used to generate electricity. England outperformed Scotland in seven of the eight quarters in 2011 and 2012, averaging 31.75 per cent compared to 27.12.

Offshore farms south of the Border now account for around a third of all UK wind capacity, up from 19 per cent only two years ago.

Meanwhile, Scotland has seen its share of the market fall from 49 per cent to 45 per cent and is set to be overtaken by England this year as the major supplier. Linda Holt, spokesman for anti-wind farm group Scotland Against Spin, said: ‘Alex Salmond has miss-sold Scotland as a preferred location for wind turbines to investors and the Scottish people.

‘Scottish energy policy needs to be grounded in economic reality, not Nationalist fantasy.’

Scotland’s windier weather: also makes electricity generation less predictable and operators have received millions of pounds from the National Grid to turn off turbines when the system cannot cope with output.

Kinross-based campaigner and engineer Dr George Lindsay said: ‘Constraints are mostly here in Scotland where our infrastructure is not yet capable of handling large wind generated electricity.’

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser – convener of Holyrood’s economy, energy and tourism committee – added: ‘There can be no justification for continuing this madcap rush to cover Scotland’s countryside in these installations.’

But a Government spokesman insisted: ‘Scotland has the highest onshore wind energy load factors in Great Britain. Scotland’s renewable energy sector has attracted £2.8billion of investment since 2009.’

Source:  By Mark Howarth, Mail on Sunday, 19/05/13

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)
Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI M TG TS G Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook Wind Watch on Linked In

Wind Watch on Mastodon Wind Watch on Truth Social

Wind Watch on Gab Wind Watch on Bluesky