Figures reveal truth about ‘green’ wind power

THE article by Tony Lodge (Yorkshire Post, May 14) was an excellent contribution to the debate about the true impact of onshore wind factories in meeting the country’s energy needs.

The Government must now address the issues made clear by the availability of reliable real-time figures for wind generated electricity fed in to the National Grid. They must stop hiding behind their highly misleading monthly average figure, and start to address the impact on the electricity generation and distribution system, of the wide variations in wind generated output.

It is now clear that wind generators operate at an average nearer 20 per cent of rated capacity than the 30 per cent claimed by the Government and the wind industry.

However, what is also clear is that the average figures cover up very wide variations in short term output, and there will always be a need for other forms of generation to balance out this natural intermittency and ensure a steady supply of electricity.

Any claimed carbon savings for any new wind generation installations must start to take this variation in output into account and should be required to specify how the back up will ensure a steady supply.

A sensible and responsible Government would immediately halt any further spread of this supposedly “green” energy source.

Unfortunately, the current coalition seems to be as blind as the previous administration to the practical realities of electricity generation, preferring to satisfy their claimed green credentials by promoting an unreliable, uneconomic technology, which actually has only a fraction of the carbon savings claimed.