Misleading Wind Information

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Sir

Once again, wind farm developers use misleading information to convince planners and politicians to go ahead with their proposals. Nation Cymru, 4 July, reported that ‘Y Bryn wind-farm could see the area as the new home for up to as many as 18 turbines that would measure up as some of the UK’s tallest on-shore turbines, measuring between 206 to 230 metres, and up to 250 metres to tip. It means they could eventually stand at a massive 820 feet tall if given the go-ahead, more than double the height of the tallest building in Wales, The Tower, Meridian Quay in Swansea – and almost as high as London’s The Shard. Developer, Coriolis, has said Y Bryn could eventually generate the equivalent energy of 85,700 “average UK homes” once completed in the coming years, a number they add is approximately 68% of households in Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend council areas combined.‘

Just about all wind-generated and solar-generated electricity is fed into the National Grid, from when it can go just about anywhere – it is utterly dissingenuous to associate Y Bryn’s proposed output with local homes. Some people do tend to think that local wind farms supply local areas – and it seems that nearly all Welsh politicians believe that to be the case. Labour, the LibDem and Green parties in Wales seem to think that plastering our tiny nation with the biggerst inland turbines in the world is making Wales ‘green’ and reaching net zero. However, even if these environmental disasters supplied only Wales, and our country then relied for electricity only on our renewable resources, our politicians would have to magically adjust wind speeds between certain operating parameters and also make the sun shine at night, on cloudy days and in drizzle. All wind and solar renewables require an almost instantaneous back-up – at tremedous costs – of electricity sourced from gas and nuclear ‘farms’. (The renewables industry refers to its power generation stations as ‘farms’ – good marketing, like ‘smart’ motorways and ‘smart’ meters. Why not rename reliable sources of energy?)

And, knowing that the households in Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend will not directly gain from a ‘green power’ input from Y Bryn, let us re-examine the claim that the proposed wind monsters will supply “87,500 average UK homes” claim. That figure is the maximum capacity for the ‘farm’ – but the wind industry itself accepts that their inland ‘farms’ are only around 25% efficient – the actual number would therefore be around 21,875 homes – wherever they might be. And – only around a third of electricity is used by homes – the rest goes into the UK infrastructure, hospitals, schools, industry, offices etc. So we are looking at supplying just 7,292 homes by destroying landscape. Whenever there is a new proposal for x number of local houses benefiting from a new wind development, divide x by 12. And cross out ‘local’. 

Because such large developments fit in with Wales’ ‘strategic plan’ to reach an unattainable net zero target, hundreds of the 820-feet high wind generators (they are not turbines) will get the go-ahead, despite any protests about peat loss, tree and hedge loss, bird, bat and insect deaths, increased flooding, the infill of 4,000 tonne bases of rubble and concrete for each turbine, access roads, pylons etc. England has not needed to approve any inland wind farms since 2015 – Wales is instead over-contributing to UK targets. Who benefits? If Y Bryn goes ahead, I urge reader to visit the completed site – you won’t be allowed too near – but it will make you wish to protest about the dozens of other sites in the pipeline. 

PS This marks my 25^th year of writing  a few letters each year to the press, about the desecration of Cymru by the wind industry. I can drive coast to coast across England and never see a turbine. 

Yours etc.

Terry Breverton