Wind Energy Planning

The recent trend of anti-wind farm campaigners challenging wind farm planning consents is unlikely to continue if the experiences of recent court cases are repeated.

Den Brook wind farm, near Crediton in Devon was first proposed five years ago. After being given the go- ahead by the Planning Inspectorate at appeal, challenges were mounted by resident Mr Hulme against the Government’s decision. The latest judge to consider the case – Frances Patterson QC however rejected all 10 reasons for the high court challenge, concluding that the decision to grant consent for the 9 wind turbines was ‘thorough and reasonable’.

Helen Hall, project manager for wind farm company RES told the BBC:

The largest and most power tidal turbine ever has been unveiled by Austrailian company Atlantis.

The AK1000 was developed by Atlantis Resources Corporation in Iverngordon, Scotland. It is programmed for installation at the European Marine Energy Centre off Orkney later this year.

The turbine is rated at 1 Megawatt and is expected to produce enough electricity for the annual needs of 1000 homes. It has been specifically designed for the hostile north sea waters and is 22.5 metres high with an 18 metre rotor diameter. The low rotor speed has been designed to reduce marine life impacts.

The BBC reported this week that shares in leading wind turbine manufacturer Vestas have slumped this year.

The company suffered net losses of 119m euros in the second quarter, down from a profit of 43m euros one year ago according to the BBC.

Vestas expects a substantial new wind farm contract in China to help soften the blow of postponed orders in Europe and the US.

Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa also experienced a drop in share price on Wednesday.

From this week the public sector are allowed to sell electricity to the grid in the UK.

The move comes as Energy Secretary Chris Hulne tries to add momentum to the decentralisation of electricity production in the UK via the Feed in Tariff.

The Local Government Act of 1976 previously prevented local councils in England and Wales from selling electricity not produced alongside heat. The UK government now believes that local authorities should be leading the way when it comes to investing in small scale renewable energy.

Hulne said:

Market research company iSuppli predicts that the global PV market will expand next year despite reduced government incentives in some European countries.

Overall, reduced solar PV prices are expected to boost the industry with global installations predicted to total 20.2 Gigawatts in 2011. Even in Germany and Italy where incentives via feed in tariffs have been significantly cut, return on investment is predicted to be in the 8-10% range.

iSuppli’s de Haan said “iSuppli believes 2012 will be the year when the PV industry weans itself from the generosity of German subsidies …The German market will cool off and expand by only 4 to 5GW per year for the next several years. We believe the government aims to keep an orderly progression in order to achieve an ultimate goal of around 80GW of installed PV capacity.”

Although cuts in government feed in tariffs have had an impact in some countries, new incentives have appeared in others such as the UK.