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Wind Power News: U.K.
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Thousands of offshore wind turbines to blight Britain’s holiday hotspots
Wind farms are to be built off the holiday coasts of Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and South Wales under Crown Estate plans to accelerate offshore turbine expansion. Thousands more giant wind turbines are to be constructed around Britain’s shores under plans set out by the Crown Estate, which owns and manages the seabeds around England, Wales and Northern Ireland on behalf of the King. The Crown Estate wants to open up swathes of the Celtic Sea – stretching along . . . Complete story »
Wind farm giants paid £205m to switch off turbines amid year of windy and wild weather
Despite a tough financial situation, British bill payers are being forced to hand wind farm operators in Scotland hundreds of millions to stop producing electricity. Energy bill payers were forced to fork out a huge £205m to wind farm giants in Scotland so that they turned off their turbines amid a windy and wild year for weather. It means that 2024 could mean a record amount of cash being supplied to renewable energy operators to stop producing electricity. The year . . . Complete story »
GE Vernova sees another blade failure at UK offshore wind farm
A turbine blade failed at an offshore wind farm near England’s northeast coast, the latest in a string of similar accidents that has damaged public acceptance of the struggling industry. The failure occurred Thursday morning on an installed GE Vernova Inc. turbine at the Dogger Bank wind farm, according to a notice on the project website that gave no further details of the damage. No one was injured in the incident, and the cause is under investigation. A GE Vernova . . . Complete story »
Council objects to Vale of Leven Windfarm plans over Dumbarton Castle impact
West Dunbartonshire Council has objected to plans for a windfarm in Alexandria – with the visual impact on Dumbarton Castle considered a major concern. The plans, if approved, would see up to 10 turbines of up to 250m in height built on land at Auchenreoch Muir by Glasgow based Coriolis Energy. The 70MW turbines would be the largest in Scotland. Earlier this year Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority formally objected, with a meeting of the authority’s planning . . . Complete story »
Sacrificing Shetland’s precious peatlands for poor temporary climate solutions
The effect of such industrialisation on climate will be of less benefit than the preservation and restoration of a long-term efficient carbon sink such as peat bog. Last month, Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant visited Shetland and described the Viking wind turbines as “pretty” alongside claiming that they are a temporary feature that can be taken down when climate change is beaten. She also said there needed to be a continuation of wind energy developments in Shetland. Her words . . . Complete story »
Locals will have to ‘suck it up’ regarding wind and solar farms on farmland
Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves warns Britain would otherwise be ‘at the mercy of dictators’ like Putin for energy. Locals who object to solar and wind farms being built in the countryside under liberalised planning rules will just have to ‘suck it up’, Chancellor Rachel Reeves suggested today. Sir Keir Starmer’s finance chief warned that failing to make the UK more energy self-sufficiency would leave it ‘at the mercy of dictators’ like Vladimir Putin and keep bills high. In a TV . . . Complete story »
Huge backlash to plans to install thousands of pylons in unspoilt rural areas for “Net Zero”
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has been warned he faces battlegrounds across the country over plans to install thousands of pylons in unspoilt rural areas to deliver a “clean power” revolution. Council leaders and communities oppose proposals for a vast new network of pylons across large parts of several counties, including Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. There are calls for community compensation of “hundreds of millions of pounds” if the schemes are pushed through. The proposals are part of . . . Complete story »
Labour paves way for new Norfolk onshore wind farms
Rachel Reeves, the incoming chancellor, introduced new measures to give the sites an easier ride through the planning system, as part of a range of reforms intended to boost economic growth. The change could have a significant impact in the region, which experts say contains huge areas which are suitable for such sites. At least half a dozen renewables companies have started to identify sites for full-scale windfarms across the country. Green campaigners and the energy sector have welcomed the . . . Complete story »
Could wind farm survey or navy sonar have caused whale deaths?
Last summer another smaller pod of long-finned pilot whales washed up on the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles. At that time it was suggested that seismic surveys, carried out to locate potential locations for offshore wind farms, were potentially responsible. There was fresh speculation that similar acoustic activity had been carried out along the seabed west of Orkney. Complete story »
Wind turbine workers at Hull’s Siemens Gamesa blade plant balloted for strike action over pay
Around 300 Siemens Gamesa wind turbine workers in Hull are being balloted for strike action over pay, the Unite union said today (Friday, July 12). The workers, who construct 108m-long wind turbine blades by hand, are angry at a 4.5 per cent pay offer plus an opaque incentive scheme, according to Unite. Since 2018, wages at the factory on the banks of the Humber estuary have dropped by 11.9 per cent in real terms, it said. Unite general secretary Sharon . . . Complete story »
