Northern Ireland’s onshore wind surges (But they still rely on fossil fuels for 74%)

via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
http://ift.tt/16C5B6P

By Paul Homewood

Another naive report from Jillian Ambrose:

The amount of onshore wind power connected to the Northern Ireland grid has breached the 1 gigawatt (GW) mark for the first time, meaning almost a quarter of the region’s electricity comes the renewable energy source.

Fresh data from NI Electricity Network has revealed the surge in connections just weeks after official figures showed that onshore wind rose to make up over 22pc of Northern Ireland’s electricity in the 12 months to the end of March.

By contrast, onshore wind makes up only 6pc of the electricity mix across the UK as a whole.

The climate-sceptic Democratic Unionist Party has presided over the onshore wind boom despite its political ambivalence to environmental concerns.

Emma Pinchbeck, from Renewable UK, said the driver has been chiefly economic.

“It sometimes gets overlooked in Westminster, but energy is a devolved issue in Northern Ireland,” she said. “Since 2010 we have seen a practical attitude and growth in support for clean energy projects which deliver investment and jobs into local communities.”

The Westminster-led subsidy scheme, the Renewables Obligation, shut its doors to onshore wind farms just over a year ago after former Prime Minister David Cameron said “enough is enough” for onshore turbines.

Now Northern Ireland is in the midst of putting together a new energy strategy with cross-party support for energy investment to flow into low-cost technologies to help keep a cap on consumer bills.

As on the UK mainland, Northern Ireland is under pressure to attract investment in new power generation as older fossil fuel plants steadily shut down. It currently relies heavily on imports from the Republic of Ireland but is eager to reduce this dependence.

“Northern Ireland needs power, and wants it to be cheap and to support the local economy. It’s a virtuous circle,” said Ms Pinchbeck.

“Onshore wind power is low cost and many major developers have sought out projects in Northern Ireland because the wind resources are so good there. This in turn means more benefits flow back to consumers, businesses and government alike,” she said.

Northern Ireland’s onshore wind industry has attracted £127.4m of local investment in 2017 alone, and hosts major onshore projects from developers including SSE, RES and local company Gaelectric.

The renewables and storage developer opened two wind farms last week totaling £41m of investment.

http://ift.tt/2tcVbda

Hardly an article goes by from Jillian Ambrose that does not heavily feature comments from Renewable UK’s Emma Pinchbeck, who is of course paid to promote the interests of renewable operators.

So let’s look at some of the claims, no doubt inspired by Ms Pinchbeck:

1) Northern Ireland’s onshore wind share surges past UK average

A ridiculous comment. Onshore wind there has for years been above the UK average.

Back in 2012, according to government figures, it was already supplying 14% of N.Ireland’s power.

2) Emma Pincheck, from Renewable UK, said the driver has been chiefly economic.

Drivel. The only reason why wind power has taken off there is subsidies from Westminster.

3) Now Northern Ireland is in the midst of putting together a new energy strategy with cross-party support for energy investment to flow into low-cost technologies to help keep a cap on consumer bills.

Onshore wind is not cheap, that is why it has needed subsidising via Renewable Obligation Certificates, that are worth about £44/MWh. This means wind farm operators earn approximately double the market price for the electricity they produce.

Last year, onshore wind in N Ireland generated 1778 GWh. At £44/MWh, this equates to a subsidy of £78 million. With a population of 1.8 million, this equates to £43 for every man, woman and child there. Fortunately for them though, the bill is shared across the UK.

4) It currently relies heavily on imports from the Republic of Ireland

According to the latest official figures for 2015, only 3% of N Ireland’s power came from the Republic.

In the same year, fossil fuels supplied 74%.

Perhaps Jillian might like to explain where N Ireland will get its power from when these plants are all shut down and the wind does not blow.