Wind Looking Ever Greater In Great Britain

Britain's vast national gamble on wind power may yet pay off

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, 14 August 2016 (UK Telegraph)

“…Opposition to wind power from the conservative press, Tory backbenchers, and free market economists dates] to the 1990s and early 2000s when…[taxpayer subsidies went to undependable, low-output pre-modern turbines but the cost] calculus is starting to vindicate Britain's vast investment…The UK is already world leader in offshore wind. The strategic choice now is whether to go for broke, tripling offshore capacity to 15 gigawatts (GW) by 2030…Scale is the crucial factor in slashing costs, so [the gamble is worth taking. New] turbines are five times taller than their primitive 20th Century ancestors, reaching 720 feet and [reliably] generating seven or eight megawatts (MW) each…The biggest offshore companies have together vowed to cut costs to €80 per MWh - or £69 - by 2025…[which will be close to the UK] wholesale price of electricity…The industry's research arm Inwind is already drawing up plans for the next generation of 10-20 MW turbines. The Sandia National Laboratories in the US are exploring 50 MW monsters…that could in theory halve costs again…” click here for more

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