Reply to: George Osborne demands massive cuts to windfarm subsidies

[Coalman]

Do you drive a lorry with sooty sacks?

Thats a bit personal, although I know mine get a bit sweaty

[Old Hack]

Do you drive a lorry with sooty sacks?

Thats a bit personal, although I know mine get a bit sweaty

[Doggy Styles]

Diver - question on the subsidies you quote for windfarms - do they cover the ongoing energy price subsidy (ROCs?) or is it just the subsidies to build?

And I have 12+ years experience in the power generation industry - I'm sure people can guess the main area from my username!

Do you drive a lorry with sooty sacks?

[Coalman]

Diver - question on the subsidies you quote for windfarms - do they cover the ongoing energy price subsidy (ROCs?) or is it just the subsidies to build?

And I have 12+ years experience in the power generation industry - I'm sure people can guess the main area from my username!

[Old Hack]

Agreed

and good luck on the M.Sc

Thanks.

Are you involved in the building of onshore, or offshore? I guess your name indicates the latter, or are you more holistically involved in it all?

[Diver]

Starting an M.Sc. in Sustainable Energy next year. Plan B has started, incorporating parts of Plan A.

I have a great deal of interest in the area. I firmly believe that being beholden to other nations, for our power, is folly.

I do, however, love the irony of Nimbyism

Agreed

and good luck on the M.Sc

[Old Hack]

Starting an M.Sc. in Sustainable Energy next year. Plan B has started, incorporating parts of Plan A.

I have a great deal of interest in the area. I firmly believe that being beholden to other nations, for our power, is folly.

I do, however, love the irony of Nimbyism

[Diver]

I cna understand the peaks and troughs of demand, meaning wind power is not ideal for the way we use it, but can't we think of a little more left field ways of using it off demand e.g. pumping water from base stations to holding tanks to run hydro electric plants on demand? Isn't there a way of using this power alongside gas/coal/nuclear/etc to create the steam that runs these generators on demand?

Can we not think of different angles on its use, other than to turn them off? It is free, in a sense.

That is the intention, but you have to remember that this is still a relatively new industry, and the technology is also new.
Consents are the biggest problem with the Anti's causing years of delay fighting through the courts, and costing the developers and the taxpayers millions so far (almost £1 billion of taxpayers money spent on legal costs).

This scenario is not just for wind, it's the same for Bio fueled and nuclear power stations.
In fact in one area of wales the Anti's are opposing a Bio fuel power station, a Nuclear power station, an onshore wind farm and an offshore wind farm. But still want cheap electricity

I have got to the stage now where I don't really care as these projects Will go ahead despite the antics of the idiot anti's. and I will still be working in this industry until I retire.

[Old Hack]

I cna understand the peaks and troughs of demand, meaning wind power is not ideal for the way we use it, but can't we think of a little more left field ways of using it off demand e.g. pumping water from base stations to holding tanks to run hydro electric plants on demand? Isn't there a way of using this power alongside gas/coal/nuclear/etc to create the steam that runs these generators on demand?

Can we not think of different angles on its use, other than to turn them off? It is free, in a sense.

[Diver]

Surely these 2 companies got screwed by the German government (they're both German) when they panic pulled out of their nuclear program causing these companies a massive financial loss. Now if they had continued going the way they were then they would have continued with their investment in the UK...

They are actually investing more in the UK with Wind, wave & tidal developments. don't forget these two are partners on or involved in 2 of the largest offshore wind farm developments in the world.

as for energy in the UK, I think the best place to get reliable info on the various sources of energy production is probably the DECC site itself

Meeting Energy Demand - Department of Energy and Climate Change

[darmstadt]

(The companies "E.On and RWE" blamed the scarcity of capital in an economic crisis, and the ‘significant ongoing costs of nuclear in relation to other renewables) .

Surely these 2 companies got screwed by the German government (they're both German) when they panic pulled out of their nuclear program causing these companies a massive financial loss. Now if they had continued going the way they were then they would have continued with their investment in the UK...

[Diver]

Isn't there a guaranteed price per unit energy too?

Yes as there is currently with wind farms, but that is tied in to the meagre subsidies that wind receives as a way for the government to control feed in tarrifs. end of subsidies means no control on prices and as the subsidies are far less than the wind farm operators would make from variable cost feed in it would be a very dangerous road to take in tearing up the subsidy contracts that the developers don't really want anyway. apparently (as it has been explained to me) there is No get-out clause for the wind farm developers unless Government (DECC) change the rules, then the operators can charge as they like. and remember the developers for offshore wind are also the operators for the power stations and even Oil and Gas Like Statoil and shell etc. all one big happy family and most of them partners on the larger projects.

Conspiracy theory anyone

Messing with the status quo could cause unwanted repercussions.

[TimberWolf]

Wouldnt it be great if we could see the true costs of all the sources of energy so we could make a proper judgement without all of the obfuscation and weasel words. And without the people with vested interests muddying the water

Yes. I would guess fossils would win on price, but do we want to import all our energy?

I've another option: Build nuclear and to hell with the future costs. Our children can deal with it.

[EternalOptimist]

That's nuclear out of the window then.

Wouldnt it be great if we could see the true costs of all the sources of energy so we could make a proper judgement without all of the obfuscation and weasel words. And without the people with vested interests muddying the water

[Cliphead]

As you probably already know through your intensive research (google), Most of them are only designed to have a 20 year lifespan with the maximum at 25 years. so you may very well be right

And in that 20 years or so they'll have contributed what exactly? The square root of fck all in the big picture.