Jonathan Ford’s article (Opinion, September 7) about system costs for renewable generation is important but only part of the story. First, the cost estimates by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy bear little relation to reality. I have compiled a large database of actual costs derived from audited company accounts and analysed the data in a forthcoming paper. It shows that the total costs of onshore and offshore wind have increased over the past two decades, largely because operating costs have been rising at 4-6 per cent a year in real terms. Poor reliability plus high operating costs is a fatal combination for any capital-intensive technology. Second, a separate analysis shows that system costs for both wind and solar power vary hugely over the course of a year. They are highest precisely when output is greatest — for example on sunny and windy days — and market prices are lowest. During such periods the net value of renewable generation is highly negative. Press releases boasting about peak levels of renewable generation should thus be understood as warnings that our collective pockets are being picked to the maximum extent possible. Professor Gordon Hughes School of Economics , University of Edinburgh, UK Letter in response to this letter: Economic case for wind power has been proven / From Jonathan Marshall, Head of Analysis, Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, London SE1, UK
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