Are wind turbines being placed correctly?
Business energy customers have long been told that green technology, including wind farms, is the way forward to guarantee supply for domestic and commercial energy customers in years to come.
However, a recent report in the Daily Mail revealed that many wind farms are operating under capacity – which the article blamed on a lack of wind. Now concern has been raised that many of the wind turbines may be being put up in the wrong locations to generate enough commercial and business energy to make them viable.
Turbine efficiency is calculated by establishing the theoretical maximum output of a wind farm with what is actually being generated, and according to the Daily Mail the largest UK wind farm in County Durham is just 18.7 per cent efficient, while one at Chelker reservoir in North Yorkshire operates at just 8.7 per cent efficiency.
However, Nick Medic, of Renewable UK, countered the report by saying that the UK “needed every bit of green energy it could generate” in order to meet the renewables targets set by the government.
In Scotland, First Minister Alex Salmond has warmly embraced wind farms and other renewable energy sources. Speaking to the Times, he told of his ambitious plan to turn Scotland into the “Saudi Arabia of marine energy” and the ten new marine-bed projects announced last week have been billed as able to generate up to 1.2GW of electricity by 2020.
For commercial gas and electricity customers, from what I’ve seen, the knowledge of the need for renewable energy generation is very much there, and new initiatives are to be welcomed. As traditional methods of power generation run out, energy will become more expensive. The aim with renewables is to make energy more affordable and reliable in the future.
Green energy is still very much in its infancy, but any move that helps ensure supply in years to come will be welcomed by business energy customers.
The other alternative, nuclear energy, also has its supporters and critics, with both Labour and the Conservatives pledging to invest in it, while the Liberal Democrats would focus solely on renewable energy sources. The Energy and Climate Change Committee told the Daily Telegraph that the disposal of radioactive waste had not been properly considered and urged more consultation before either nuclear energy or wind turbines started being erected.
The future of energy generation will certainly be far different from how things are today. But you can act to save money on your business gas and business electricity today.
Contact Energy Advice Line to find the best deal for your business, and check out our business electricity and business gas top tips to help you save energy today.
Read the Daily Mail article about wind far worries.
Read about Alex Salmond’s ambitions in The Times.
And read about the Energy and Climate Change Committee’s nuclear concerns in the Daily Telegraph.
Picture credit – CCA: Wind Turbine near Corwen by Christopher Owen from Flickr.
