Wind power paradox (From Western Telegraph)

Wind power paradox

9:30am Saturday 7th November 2009 in

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Dear Editor

Pembroke Design director Gareth Scourfield described the Wear Point wind turbines as the “right thing in the wrong place” (Objections to wind farm bid, Western Telegraph, October 28th).

As the author of the recently published book The Wind Farm Scam, I query Mr Scourfield’s understanding of the situation.

One of the UK’s major wind power operators, EON UK, submitted evidence to a House of Lords select committee in 2008, pointing out that wind power needs backup from conventional fossil-fuelled power stations equal to about 90% of the wind installed capacity.

In other words, once we have a lot of wind power, the paradox is that we have to build extra power stations to support it.

I will not ask Gareth Scourfield the embarrassing question, where is the right place? I will simply observe that there is no such thing.

So serious is this problem, that wind power has to be paid a consumer-sourced subsidy of more than 100% by the Renewables Obligation, which also forces its purchase by power distributors.

In a free market it would be dead in months.

Dr JOHN ETHERINGTON
Parc-y-Bont,
Llanhowell,
Solva.