Carbon Commentary » Vestas http://www.carboncommentary.com A critical appraisal of issues in the move to a low-carbon economy Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:16:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 en UK offshore wind farm development http://www.carboncommentary.com/2007/12/12/62 http://www.carboncommentary.com/2007/12/12/62#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:31:05 +0000 Chris Goodall http://www.carboncommentary.com/2007/12/12/62 The UK government has announced an intention to allow offshore wind farm development around most of the UK. John Hutton suggested that about 33 GW capacity could be added by 2020. This would provide about 25% of current UK electricity demand (which is itself rising by 1 to 2% per year). Simple calculations suggest that this change may add about 15-25% to UK electricity bills. Offshore wind is more expensive to construct and operate than onshore wind farms. The announcement may suggest that the government believes that offshore wind can be pushed through but that onshore farms are likely to be successfully opposed. The big push for offshore wind seems to mean that the government is losing faith in nuclear.]]>

The UK government has announced an intention to allow offshore wind farm development around most of the UK. John Hutton suggested that about 33 GW capacity could be added by 2020. This would provide about 25% of current UK electricity demand (which is itself rising by 1 to 2% per year).

Simple calculations suggest that this change may add about 15-25% to UK electricity bills. Offshore wind is more expensive to construct and operate than onshore wind farms. The announcement may suggest that the government believes that offshore wind can be pushed through but that onshore farms are likely to be successfully opposed. The big push for offshore wind seems to mean that the government is losing faith in nuclear.

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