Energy policy? What energy policy? The National Grid PLC has announced that wind farm generators will now not be allowed to generate for 38 days rather than the previous 25 days a year.
That’s a 50 per cent increase in idle time because it is too “windy” (the National Grid cannot cope with the surge). Wind farm operators were paid £2.6 million in May not to run their generators, a figure set to rise to an estimated £300 million a year by 2020.
The operators received £500 million in subsidies in 2010. The Renewable Energy Foundation estimates subsidies will reach £6 billion by 2020, making wind farm generation expensive and unsustainable. ■