In Tuesday’s debate on Scotland’s Renewable Future in the Scottish Parliament several MSPS continually referred to wind energy as “cheap”. This is demonstrably not true. Whatever their ideological views on renewables, politicians must at least be honest with the public about the total cost to consumers and the economy of their current energy policies.
Costs involved in wind farm development include the direct subsidies paid to developers under the Contract for Difference scheme; the cost of upgrading the transmission network to accommodate wind energy which is generated far from the end user; the constraint payments paid to developers to turn off turbines when the grid cannot cope; the balancing cost to keep the grid stable in real time when intermittent renewables enter the system; and the cost of keeping gas power plants on standby to pick up the slack when the wind does not blow. At the very least the media should be holding the politicians to account and be constantly calling them out on references to “cheap” or “free” wind power.
K Coltart Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway
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