Sir, – I think it was George Bernard Shaw who said “vested interest is a powerful persuader”.
Having made one fortune on “wind power”, courtesy of Irish consumers, Eddie O’Connor is now set on making a second fortune by selling wind energy to the UK (July 3rd). Any new power-generating capacity that cannot be deployed at times of peak demand is utterly useless on the grid, and the sad fact is that the wind will not blow on demand. In fact, the wind is almost always missing when most needed.
Every year peak demand occurs in mid-winter during periods of high pressure, freezing temperatures, but no wind. Therefore wind power must always be 100 per cent backed up by conventional power plants, thus relentlessly adding to the overall cost of our electricity.
This whole wind farm wheeze is based on giving, by government diktat, guaranteed premium rates for every watt of wind power produced. This allows governments to claim to be meeting renewable energy targets.
It’s time we stopped this wind farm madness, and stop the wind moguls laughing all the way to the banks with our money. – Yours, etc,