Economics professor tells Scottish parliament not to build any more windfarms in Scotland
The Scottish parliament’s Economy, Tourism and Energy Committee recently heard damning evidence about the impact of wind power expansion on the Scottish landscape from Professor Sir Dieter Helm, a professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford.
Professor Helm set out some hard truths about the proliferation of wind power in Scotland and the failure to assess the full system costs.
Some of his comments include:
“…we should stop telling the public what I think is, essentially—I say this in the nicest possible way—a fabrication. The energy is not cheap, it is not home-grown, and it is not necessarily secure.
“Are we producing cheap and affordable energy for customers and to encourage industry? No. Our electricity is about the most expensive in the developed world. Is it useful energy? What is going to happen to all the intermittent energy surpluses that Scotland is producing? The answer is not at all clear.”
“…we put a lot of the wind generation in almost precisely the wrong place. Why would you have lots of offshore wind turbines off the north-east coast of Scotland if the total demand is, say, 5GW at its peak and the bulk of demand is south, in England? Why would you not put the turbines further south? It is true that the wind is better in Scotland, but it is more expensive to do that and the supply is a long way from the market. You have to explain to people that there are pylons all over the landscape—there is a thing called natural beauty—because wind is intermittent, the turbines are a hugely long way from the market and, frankly, they are probably in the wrong place. However, they are there, so the question is what to do now. Do not put any more there!”
You can download the full committee report here : https://www.parliament.scot/api/sitecore/CustomMedia/OfficialReport?meetingId=20196
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