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Not Enough Wind for More Than Half of Britain’s Wind Farms
It’s not exactly rocket science – when building a wind farm, look for a site that is, well, quite windy.
But more than half of Britain’s wind farms are operating at less than 25 per cent capacity.
In England, the figure rises to 70 per cent of onshore developments, research shows.
Experts say that over-generous subsidies mean hundreds of turbines are going up on sites that are simply not breezy enough.
Britain’s most feeble wind farm is in Blyth Harbour in Northumberland, where the nine turbines lining the East Pier reach a meagre 4.9 per cent of their capacity.
Another at Chelker reservoir in North Yorkshire operates at only 5.3 per cent of its potential, the analysis of 2009 figures provided by energy regulator Ofgem found.
The ten turbines at Burton Wold in Northamptonshire have been running for just three years, but achieved only 19 per cent capacity.
Europe’s biggest wind farm, Whitelee, near Glasgow, boasts 140 turbines. But last year they ran at less than a quarter of their capacity.
The revelation that so many wind farms are under-performing will be of interest to those who argue that they are simply expensive eyesores.
Full story: Daily Mail.co.uk: More than half of Britain’s wind farms have been built where there is not enough wind