German Results Cast Doubt on UK's Wind Farm Proposals

German Results Cast Doubt on UK's Wind Farm Proposals

Jul 31 - Independent on Sunday, The

The Government's target of generating a 10th of energy from renewable sources by 2010 is being undermined by German data that indicates wind power may be less efficient than had been hoped.

The statistics may cause friction between Whitehall and Alistair Buchanan, the energy regulator, who is concerned that by relying heavily on wind energy, UK may become too much of a hostage to capricious weather.

Germany has 16,000 mega-watts (MW) of wind power generating capacity installed, more than any other country in the world and more than 15 times the amount in the UK.

Statistics from two of the main energy groups in Germany, RWE and E.ON, indicate that the efficiency of the wind farms is much lower than that factored into UK plans.

RWE found that the load factor " the amount of energy produced per 1,000 MW installed " on its farms is around 16 per cent while at E.ON the figure is below 12 per cent.

On this basis the German national grid, the Deutsche Energie- Agentur, has said that it will only allow wind farms to count 6 per cent of their capacity when calculations are made about the amount of electricity generating capacity available for customers. Some of the energy is wasted because warm summer winds at night lead to power being produced when it is least needed. The German figures compare with the 30 per cent load factor targeted in the UK for wind farms.

RWE's UK subsidiary, npower, has said it is wrong to compare German and UK wind farms as like for like. This is because many German sites are onshore, have not been built in the best locations for subsidy and planning reasons, and the UK is far windier than Germany.

In England and Wales, npower's wind farms have achieved 27 per cent efficiency while in Scotland the levels so far have been in excess of 30 per cent, as Scotland is one of the windiest parts of Europe.

According to specialist investment bank Climate Change Capital, there will need to be pounds 6bn of investment in renewable energy to meet the UK's 10 per cent target.

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