It almost defies belief that, at a time when Britain produces a far lower proportion of electricity from renewable sources of energy (just 4%, compared with 15-20% in mainland Europe and 35% in Scandinavia), the Government is now paving the way to dismantle one of the most efficient wind farms in the UK to make way for a nuclear power station. The Kirksanton site in Cumbria, where the Haverigg turbines are located, has been approved by the Government for the German-owned power group RWE to build a new nuclear power station there. This could well be one of the 11 new nuclear plants to which Gordon Brown, though not Parliament which has never been consulted, has committed himself. It is extraordinary that the Government has not automatically at the initial screening process ruled out areas for nuclear where there are already productive sites for nuclear technologies, but that no doubt reflects the virulently pro-nuclear stance of the DBERR department. What makes the decision even more perverse is that the wind-farm site has been expanded to 8 turbines through a £6 million additional investment, not least because Haverigg has an unusually high 35% capacity factor (or efficiency) compared with ab average of 30%. Nor is this the only anti-renewables stance the Government has recently taken.

Vestas, the Danish company which is the world’s biggest wind energy group, announced 2 days ago that it was closing its Newport, Isle of Wight, plant which makes blades for windfarms, citing “a lack of political initiatives” for the 600 job losses, as well the effects of the credit crunch and a weak £. It is ironic and disturbing that this follows just 5 days after Darling’s Budget which promised support for low-carbon green technology as one of the Government’s prime efforts to fight the recession. It’s true that the Budget did offer increased subsidies for offshore windfarms and that there have also been some recent moves to unblock the clogged and lengthy planning process. But as so often, it looks like being too little, too late. Certainly no aid or assistance has been offered by the Government to save the Vestas plant.
It was always said by opponents of Brown’s nuclear renaissance that nuclear would crowd out renewables. That is exactly what is now happening, reflecting the embedded power of the nuclear lobby against the weak political clout of the incipient reneables industry. Yet it is surprising when Britain now has a mandatory duty under the EU renewables directive to produce at least 15% of its primary energy by 2020 from renewables, and since renewables contribute little to transport energy and space heating, 35-40% of this obligation will have to be met from renewables-generated electricity. On present trends Britain will miss that target by a wide margin, and despite Gordon Brown proclaiming renewable energy will be a centrepiece of UK economic recovery, we are falling further and further behind our main competitors. Germany for example has installed 10 times more windpower and 200 times more solar than the UK. What is really needed now is for the Government to launch an Apollo-style programme technologically led and politically driven to make renewables the number one source of energy within 20 years. But don’t hold your breath.

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