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Bagmoor Wind Farm bosses hit back over efficiency claims
Credit: Scunthorpe Telegraph, www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk 21 February 2011 ~~
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The developers behind North Lincolnshire’s only operational wind farm have hit back after criticism of its performance levels.
Bagmoor Wind Farm’s eight turbines have been criticised by the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) for working at 27.2 per cent of its annual capacity.
But owners of the 300-acre wind farm, RidgeWind, have defended its record.
According to RidgeWind chairman Thomas Murley, Bagmoor operated at a 31 per cent capacity between August 31, 2009, and March 31, last year, which is above the UK average of 28 to 29 per cent.
He said: “Despite an unusually low wind period from January through to May last year across the UK, since Bagmoor went operational on July 31, 2009, its production has been 100 per cent of expected annual production of 45,400 megawatt hours per year, or a 32.5 per cent capacity factor for the 17 months that it has been in operation.”
Mr Murley said the difference in figures is because Bagmoor did not become fully operational until July 31, 2009.
But the analysis by REF assumed it was operational for the full year ending March 31, last year.
When the 30,755 megawatt hours of electricity the wind farm produced are adjusted to this shorter time period, Bagmoor’s capacity is above the UK average.
Mr Murley said: “To those obsessed with challenging the efficiency and reliability of wind energy, it is important to note that all energy sources are intermittent.”
However, the REF has insisted its figures are accurate.
A spokeswoman for REF said that Bagmoor wind farm’s annual load factor from July 2009 to July 2010 was 27.2 per cent according to figures obtained from Ofgem – the UK’s energy market regulator.
Mr Murley disputed theses figures, claiming that because the wind farm was not in operation until July 31 2009, the percentage was inaccurate.
While the wind farm was accredited by Ofgem in April, and tests were run in the following months, the wind farm was not fully operational until July 31, 2009.
The eight wind turbines at Bagmoor started producing electricity in 2009, following the £18 million investment by RidgeWind, which is also attempting to set up a second farm at nearby Flixborough Grange.
Under the Renewables Obligation Certification subsidy scheme, owners of wind farms earn around £48 for every megawatt hour of electricity they produce on top of the cash they raise from selling electricity.
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