UK warmists whining as government is reducing wind energy subsidies

On July 4 the UK TaxPayers' Alliance launched its "Stop the Energy Swindle" campaign:

"Families and businesses are struggling with their electricity and gas bills. Politicians should be cutting energy taxes to ease that burden. Instead they are adding to them on an enormous scale to pay for fat subsidies that support expensive energy sources like wind turbines and solar panels. People who are already finding it hard to pay their bills will not be able to cope with the big increases in prices needed to meet draconian targets for the energy sector. We cannot allow more families to suffer needlessly and more jobs to be driven overseas thanks to high prices here in Britain. It is time to stop the energy swindle."

Now it appears that the UK government is finally listening - and the "independent" warmist Committee on  Climate Change is whining:

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has written to Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary, to warn that "required investment is at risk under current proposals".

Proposed reductions in subsidy levels for offshore wind farms this decade are too severe for the cost reductions that the industry can achieve, it warns.

Ministers also appear to have dramatically scaled back their ambitions for how much offshore wind is wanted in the long-term, undermining confidence in the sector.

This creates a vicious circle whereby developers are reluctant to make the investments that would be needed to reduce costs, the CCC warns.

David Kennedy, chief executive of the CCC, said: "I have spoken to every major investor and they are all concerned."

What the CCC considers a "vicious cycle" is in reality a much awaited virtuous cycle, which hopefully will be strengthened in the near future.

 

The true costs of the wind industry revealed in the UK

Ineffective, bird killing, landscape destroying wind turbines are are extremely expensive
 for the taxpayers, and  create just a handful jobs.
(image wikipedia)

Wind turbines are a bonanza for the owners, but extremely expensive for the taxpayers. A new analysis of government and industry figures shows that every job in the UK wind farm industry is subsidised to the extent of £100,000 (157,000 USD) per year:

The disclosure is potentially embarrassing for the wind industry, which claims it is an economically dynamic sector that creates jobs. It was described by critics as proof the sector was not economically viable, with one calling it evidence of “soft jobs” that depended on the taxpayer.

The subsidy was disclosed in a new analysis of official figures, which showed that:

The level of support from subsidies in some cases is so high that jobs are effectively supported to the extent of £1.3million each --

Among the examples of extremely high subsidies effectively for job creation is Greater Gabbard, a scheme of 140 turbines 12 miles off the Suffolk coast.

It received £129million in consumer subsidy in the 12 months to the end of February, double the £65million it received for the electricity it produced. It employs 100 people at its headquarters in Lowestoft, receiving, in effect, £1.3million for every member of staff. --

The London Array, Britain’s biggest wind farm, with 175 turbines, employs 90 people at its base in Ramsgate, Kent. The array, which is 12 miles offshore, became fully operational in the spring. The foundation predicts its Renewables Obligation subsidy in its first year of full operation will be £160million — effectively £1.77million per job. --

Campaigners also warn that turbines do not generate power when the wind is too low or too high, and cannot store it, meaning conventional generation is needed as a backup.

Dr John Constable, director of Renewable Energy Foundation, said: “Subsidies can create some soft jobs in the wind power industry but will destroy real jobs and reduce wages in other sectors, in the UK’s case because the subsidies cause higher electricity prices for industrial and commercial consumers. The extravagant subsidy cost per wind power job is an indication of the scale of that problem.”

He added: “Truly productive energy industries — gas, coal, oil, for example — create jobs indirectly by providing cheap energy that allows other businesses to prosper, but the subsidy-dependent renewables sector is a long way from this goal; it’s still much too expensive.”

Read the entire article here

PS

It is, of course, the same story in other countries. Without huge subsidies, there would not be a wind industry to speak of. The landscape destroying, bird killing and ineffective wind turbines are an expensive monument to stupidy everywhere.