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Many politicians and fellow letter writers claim that the cost of wind-generated electricity is cheaper than that generated by gas.
Although this claim is highly questionable it diverts attention from the real and significant problem with wind generation, namely its reliability. Whether one or ten thousand wind turbines are constructed, little or no electricity is generated when there is little or no wind. A vivid illustration of this occurred earlier this month. At noon on Wednesday 2 November metered wind was generating 16.702MW but dropped to 1,250MW by 4.30pm on Thursday 3 November. This drop of over 15,000MW equates to around 15 massive offshore wind installations such as Seagreen with its claimed 1000MW capacity and represents around one third of total UK average demand.
Fortunately there was sufficient alternative reliable generation, mostly gas, available as back-up to prevent blackout! When the cost of having this level of alternative, duplicate and reliable generation is taken into account, the cost of wind generated electricity is certainly not less expensive.
GM Lindsay, Kinross, Perth & Kinross
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