I thank Grafton Maggs for his compliments on my qualification to comment on and technically analyse the onshore wind farm subject (Have Your Say, July 2).
I can assure Mr Maggs he is being taken in by the pro-wind farm industry myth about wind power. They always quote wind turbines as able to supply so many thousand homes with electricity. Without exception, they fail to remind the reader that when the wind is not blowing at the right speed those turbines will supply no homes at all.
The Orkneys do not have a connection to the National Grid. When the wind is not blowing at the right speed, they use diesel generators. On such islands as the Orkneys it would make sense to harness wind and tide energy.
However, Wales is well connected to the grid and it makes no sense to install cost-ineffective wind power that reduces a tiny, nonsensical amount of the UK CO? emissions.
The Assembly Government is trying to perpetuate another myth in saying the planned turbines will only use one per cent of the land.
Each turbine uses a small area of land, but these turbines have to be installed on the mountains to make any sense at all to their silly average output. Thus each massive turbine can be seen from a radius of many miles. As a result, I would guess that the turbines planned for Tan8 would visually pollute at least half of Wales.
Jack Harris
Eaton Crescent, Swansea
8 July 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/07/08/half-of-wales-is-in-danger/