Say no to this huge wind farm
I WRITE in response to your article It's time we all embraced wind farms (Post, July 16).
Who the heck is Peter Davies? Who appointed him? Who is he accountable to? What right has he got to insist that wind farms are imposed all over the most beautiful, unspoilt areas of Wales?
On his website it states that he has been consistently involved with big business interests i.e. DTI, CBI etc.
Onshore wind power is a waste of time, and a major distraction from the investment that should be being ploughed into other, more reliable forms of renewable energy, such as tidal power, hydroelectricity, clean-coal, photovoltaic and solar power.
Mr Davies extols the virtues of the "community development of wind turbines". These are relatively tiny developments compared to the massive wind farm (19 turbines, each over 400ft) which npower and the Duke of Beaufort are planning to erect on Mynydd y Gwair.
The only reason they are attempting to force this through, against all democratic objection, is to grab the huge public subsidies which the Blair government, in its wisdom, had seen fit to make available.
These subsidies will be paid by every consumer, through a levy on all electricity bills, and will net npower and the Duke of Beaufort millions of pounds over the next 25 years for destroying one of the last remaining areas of outstanding natural beauty we have left in this part of Wales.
Wind turbines only operate at up to 30 per cent of their rated capacity. The amount of greenhouse gasses they save is so negligible as to be totally insignificant in terms of global warming.
So who benefits from all this? Certainly not the local community, as advocated by Mr Davies, nor the taxpayers of Swansea. No, the only beneficiaries of this are the manufacturers and developers of these massive turbines and the owners of the land on which they are sited.
So please, support our call for the public inquiry at the Dylan Thomas Centre to throw out npower's attempt to erect their monstrous wind farm on Mynydd y Gwair.
Mike Clarke
Clydach Road, Craigcefnparc
11 Comments
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by Greg Jenkins, Edinburgh
Friday, July 30 2010, 2:22PM
“Valleyboy, sorry that is wrong. Efficiency and load factor are two different things but often mis-quoted.
As we agree though, the load factor for a 'typical' power station is around 50% compared to 30% for a wind farm.
Sorry to disappoint, I dont go in for the Auld (not old) enemy rubbish as only a minority of Scots really have a chip on the shoulder about the English.
Just out of interest, have you heard of SCOTTISH Power (not English) or SCOTTISH and Southern Energy? The former is part of a Spanish owned multi national. Please dont try and cloud the debate with silly anti English comments.”
by Valleyboy, The Valleys
Thursday, July 29 2010, 9:46PM
“For all the "doubting Thomas's" out there.
Steve, Swansea. Yes, wind turbines can break. We don't need any more in Wales. We have enough electricity here as it is. Not many people in Wales know that, we in Wales produce more electricity than we can consume, and we therefore export electricity "abroad", to England, (we generate 8.7%, and consume 6.7% of all electricity generated in the UK). Making electricity in Wales is not really that efficient. It should be generated, if possible, where it's needed. Electricity, like some wines, doesn't travel very well. Line resistance robs the power. The old C.E.G.B. used to say a loss of about 7% over a long distance.
Jeff, Neath. You mention "what about the workers". Did you know that the payback time for windturbines can be as little as 3-5 months (yes, months) the World Steel Association reckons it's nearer 12 months. It's the landowners and sellers of the electricity who are coining it in, not the workers.
Greg Jenkins, Edinburgh. Scotland too, produces more electricity than it can consume. How does it feel to have "the old enemy's" wind turbines blotting your landscape, whilst they reap the benefit of electricity at arms length. With regard to efficiency Greg, check out www.windenergy.com and they confirm windturbines at 30% efficiency. The turbines don't spin all the time, it's the wind you know ! Off shore wind turbines are about 35% efficient, nuclear power stations are about 50% efficient, a Severn Barrage would only be about 36% ( I bet that surprises some people), whereas Tidal Lagoons can be 60%, yes 60% efficient, and the wading birds don't have to fly any further down the Severn Estuary. We even have more than enough ballast readily available in the slate quarries of North Wales, to provide the in-fill material required to make tidal lagoons. So there you have it. Oh, last point, all that dosh the landowners and electricity sellers make via the government Renewable Obligation Certificate, is paid for, not by the government, but by me and you, in our electric bills !”
by Paul, Swansea
Thursday, July 29 2010, 2:50PM
“Is there any point when the UK only produces 2% of the world's CO2 emissions?? We could do an Atlantis and make no difference.”
by Greg Jenkins, Edinburgh
Thursday, July 29 2010, 10:01AM
“Hi Philip, I am pro renewables but I disagree about there being no need for infrastructure.
When they are sighted, there is often a need to put in additional roads and tracks as you cannot transport them across a field or moorland.
Power transmission often needs upgrading. In Scotland we have had the Beauly to Denny power lines upgraded which was a major undertaking. In the case of the site we are talking about, it is only 19 turbines (this is very small) so infrastructure would be comparatively minimal.
On a seperate note, I would love to see the Welsh Assembly follow the lead of the Scottish Government and look to develop businesses and jobs in the renewable industries, especially in their manufacturing.
Valleyboy, I have looked up the figures and I think rather than efficiency of wind farms the 30% figure you quote is actually the load factor - This is the amount it will generate over the course of a year compared to the theoretical max. You can compare this to power stations which have a load factor of 50% (not the 100% some assume).
I checked these last figures on the British Wind Energy Association website.”
by Philip, Swansea
Wednesday, July 28 2010, 11:36PM
“Wind turbines aren't the answer to our energy needs. No-one can say they are. They're not reliable, they're not controllable.
BUT, they are easy to erect and easy to remove. They are the perfect short-term answer to our energy problems. There's no infrastructure required and the worst thing left behind is a lamp of concrete that won't be noticed beneath the surface.
And that is why we need wind turbines NOW.”