OH no we don’t!

The letter from Eleanor Clegg, Friends of the Earth, headed, ‘We need it’ (Western Telegraph letters, December 11) certainly challenges credibility.

So, perhaps she can kindly explain how a limited 0.5 GW capacity underwater cable (Irish/Welsh Interconnector) can have a balancing function and provide stability on a GB National Grid system that can demand, at any one moment, 50.4 GW (peak) – I am willing to learn.

It is a fact (not fairy tale) that Wales generates twice as much energy as it uses, so why do we need the costly Irish Interconnector – during 2018 Wales generated an estimated 30.2 TWh and consumed about 14.9 TWh of electricity, and is thus a net exporter of electricity.

Surely the only argument that will make any kind of engineering and economic sense, taking the high capital cost into account, would be that at the end of the day, Wales can make a tidy profit in selling electricity to the Irish.

We have the capacity, and we certainly do not need to buy electricity from the Irish, unless it is very cheap and we actually consume the energy in Wales, thereby saving fossil fuel and on-line losses from further transmission again to England.

Eleanor also states this is exactly the sort of investment in grid transmission we need - so I guess this why they are going to spend an eye watering 2 billion Euros on a Norwegian Interconnector- will the UK be importing very cheap electricity from Norway then – methinks not - no wonder our power bills keep on going up! Just think what all this money could do for tidal energy – after all we are an island with the second highest tidal range on the planet – perhaps we need a realistic ‘Friends of the Water’ group?

She also claims the benefits will far outweigh the negatives (disruption of the seabed etc) without any qualification to exactly what jobs, if any, it will create – is she implying Welsh labour will be instrumental in laying the cable, and after the cable has been laid, what Welsh jobs will then materialise?

In her next fairy tale (it is the pantomime season) Eleanor Clegg will no doubt be supporting Smart Meters quoting from an advert put out by ‘The Campaign for a Smarter Britain’ that stated, and I quote verbatim: “In the near future, you’ll be able to set power hungry devices to turn on when supply from green sources is high, so they cost less.”

I wonder who actually believes all this guff - and also irrationally, Eleanor possibly telling us we should all stop eating meat to save the planet – lettuce not be seduced by her silly observations.

Have a Merry Christmas.

DAVE HASKELL,

Brithdir