Spiralling costs and delays hit UK wind farms

Wind energy industry leaders will this week warn Prime Minister Gordon Brown there is little chance of achieving the government’s goal of wind generating a third of all UK electricity by 2020.

A report in The Observer says:

“Planning delays, long delivery times, escalating costs, 10-year hold-ups in connection to the national grid and technical problems in building offshore wind farms all threaten to derail Brown’s ambitions. The result could be electricity shortages by 2020, failure to meet climate change and energy targets and possible hefty fines from Europe.”

The Observer also found that most existing wind turbine manufacturers are booked solid for the next five years, with demand forcing the price to double over the past five years. It also reported that it could cost up to £200,000 just to apply for planning permission, with two-thirds of applications being refused.

Most shocking is the finding that some companies in Scotland are being told to join a 13-year queue and pay deposits of millions of pounds to get connected to the National Grid.

You can read the full report here.