Wind power is neither clean nor cheap, and cherry-picked figures belie the truth
The Herald | 7 Jan 2022 | www.heraldscotland.com
The Herald | 7 Jan 2022 | www.heraldscotland.com
It has been heartening of late to read so many letters pointing out the failings of wind power and why we should never have over-deployed on weather-dependent energy.
If only the independent engineers and economists had been heeded over this last decade, then perhaps we wouldn’t be in the current mess, with unaffordable bills and no energy security as wind regularly goes AWOL, forcing prices up to eye-watering figures of £4000 MWH to keep the lights on.
Not investing in home-produced reliable generation has been disastrous, as more people are plunged into fuel poverty while we are held at the mercy of overseas electricity costs.
More and more people are realising that wind is not clean or cheap and that cherry-picked figures belie the truth. The cost and emissions of grid connections – no matter how many miles – and the essential 24/7 back-up is not included in the costs given to the public.
Wind operators should be fined for not producing what they promised in order to gain planning approval, and the ridiculous connect-and-manage system should be ditched once and for all.
For those of your readers unfamiliar with this particular lunacy, it allows approved wind turbines to be connected to a grid that cannot cope with them and then the erratic situation they cause has to be managed.
Managing is done by shutting down turbines and paying the operators handsomely (more than if they were actually generating) by way of constraints, which is added to all UK consumers’ energy bills along with the subsidies.
As at January 3, 2022, according to data compiled by the Renewable Energy Foundation, we have been forced to pay £1,076,455,630 for absolutely nothing and the majority is paid out in Scotland by all UK consumers.
Alarmingly, Scotland’s grid operators – SSE and Spanish-owned SPR – are two of the biggest wind developers and pocket a hefty chunk of the constraints paid in Scotland.
You would think they would know that the grid can’t cope with more turbines and yet they propose even more to be connected – and managed.
Someone, somewhere, should be asking questions as to why this absurd situation is allowed to continue and why consumers are being forced to fund something that gives no energy security and has certainly not reduced this country’s emissions.
The Scottish Government’s “solution” to the wind boondoggle is to approve yet more turbines. It simply does not make sense for Scotland or the poor beleaguered UK consumer. Perhaps Westminster needs to step in to protect us and stop this farce continuing for a moment longer.
Lyndsey Ward, Beauly.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2022/01/07/wind-power-is-neither-clean-nor-cheap-and-cherry-picked-figures-belie-the-truth/