The answer is not blowing in wind
I wish to respond to Prof Igor Shvets’ letter and article in your paper last Saturday concerning my response to the “Spirit of Ireland” wind energy initiative (Letters, May 16).
My calculation of the length of time pumped storage would sustain our electricity, in the absence of wind, as proposed, was based on reservoir dimensions given by Prof Shvets himself in the ‘Sunday Times’ (December 7, 2008).
Such a reservoir would only supply our average national demand in December, about 3700MW, for a mere 15 hours; totally inadequate for a calm period which could last for weeks. The exact reservoir proposal is still unclear from Prof Shvets’ letter (“Two or three storage reservoirs will be built”), so one cannot judge their cost or adequacy.
As I said in my original letter, there is certainly a place for a significant contribution from wind, especially when backed up by pumped storage, but to suggest that 100pc of our energy needs could be satisfied by wind within five years is quite unbelievable to me.
It is interesting to look at the situation in Denmark, world leaders in wind generation for over 30 years. They have similar winds to us but can only achieve less than 20pc. Their terrain would not allow pumped storage but they are surrounded by countries who supply them when wind fails.
Many reliable international studies show that nuclear power, as well as being clean, steady and reliable, is one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation. A study by the Royal Academy of Engineering found nuclear electricity to be half the price of onshore wind and one third of offshore wind. Going down the wind-only route will give Ireland some of the most expensive electricity in Europe and will hurt our industrial competitiveness.
Prof Shvets mentions his origins in Ukraine, which is where the Chernobyl accident occurred. It is interesting to note that Ukraine has 15 operational nuclear power plants, has two under construction, and is proposing a further 20.
We must correct this simplistic and misleading idea that renewables will satisfy all our needs and must also consider nuclear power as a means of combating global warming and replacing dwindling fossil fuels.
Philip W Walton,
Emeritus Professor
of Applied Physics,
NUI, Galway
22 May 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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