I WISH to congratulate the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
for scrapping the Feed in Tariff (FIT) scheme’s pre-accreditation element
which provided developers with a financial security blanket for their
hare-brained micro and mini- hydro schemes (“Subsidy rules hit hydro
projects”, The Herald, October 19). We should scrap the whole idea of
paying any subsidies for this junk electricity issuing from micro hydro,
wind and tidal turbines. However, money should be paid out for every
unbroken supply of renewable electricity at full capacity over a minimum of
24 hours.
Scotland has got to be one of the worst countries in the world for hydro;
Norway is the best because it rains a lot and has glaciers that fill the
rivers during the summer months. Hydro in Scotland works for about 25 per
cent of the year, whereas Norway’s hydro keeps on running for around 98%.
Fergus Ewing should wake up to the reality that renewable energy is just
not working despite the Scottish Government crowing on and on about meeting
this target and that target on renewables. I have written to Amber Rudd at
DECC urging her to scrap all subsidies and payments for random intermittent
electricity to force the Renewable Energy Industry to give us the right
kind of electricity that is there for us 24-7-52.
This renewable energy gravy train has been on the tracks for more than 40
years and has still not produced a single unit of reliable and firm
electricity. Despite Scotland having more than 7,000MW of installed
renewable energy machines, which includes hydro built in the 50s and 60s,
our country’s carbon foot continues to rise and has done so for the last
three years, and will continue to do so, because intermittent renewable
electricity is simply the wrong kind of electricity. It is time this
particular train was put into the sidings of history and broken up for scrap.
It is time we moved on and started generating the right kind of electricity
that will keep our lights on.
Andrew H Mackay,
Causewayside, Glenaldie, Tain.
YOUR report on the performance of ScottishPower owner Iberdrola includes
reference to its Whitelees wind farm now “capable” of generating 539 mw
(“Profits rise for Iberdrola”, the Herald, October 22).
It is ironic that in the same edition in your “50 years ago” section(From
The Archives, October 22) there is reference to the proposed Dungeness
nuclear station. It is quoted that “it will develop 1200 mw”.
A little research shows that Dungeness required a mere 0.5 sq km for a
reliable 1200 mw.
By contrast Whitelees smothers 55 sq kms on a skyline visible for miles.
And of course it only supplies much less than half of 50-year-old
Dungeness’s generation and only when there is a wind, but not too strong of
course and seldom when there is high pressure like winter cold spells.
Are we mad covering Scotland like this?
John A Taylor,
19 The Fieldings, Dunlop.
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