The area surrounding Thorne Moors has recently become a very
attractive one for wind farm developers. They are not attracted by the average
wind speeds - at 6.4 metres / sec well below national average, but by the very
low population densities and low amenity usage.
As TDWAG is a small,
recently formed (Dec 2003), advisory group we initially decided to concentrate
our efforts into thoroughly investigating the planning application for Tween
Bridge, which was submitted by United Utilities on January 15th 2004. We will
however work together with groups who are involved with the other schemes, where
there is a strategic advantage in so doing, as we believe that such developments
will have a negative effect on the ecology of Thorne Moors and are inefficient
in an area of relatively low mean wind speeds.
Are you aware that there are 15 possible wind farms proposed in the Humberhead levels? Please see the left column for a full list. It is very difficult to obtain information from the developers until they are ready to submit a planning application, then there is little time left to discover the full impact before the planning window closes. If you have any further information on any of the projects listed then please contact TDWAG. By a happy coincidence, although concentrated in a small area around Thorne Moors, they fall into several planning authorities and parliamentary constituencies.
Point to the shaded areas on the map with your mouse to see more information and to follows links where available. For a larger version of the map click here.
The DTI announced in March 2004 that they will be calling for a cumulative environment assessment on 11 of these proposals, and it is then likely that some form of single public enquiry will be held into all of these applications. More details as we receive them
In 2002 Defra paid out £17.3 million to secure the long term future of Thorne and Hatfield Moors, . The cumulative impact of these proposed wind farms will produce a very real threat to the integrity of the Moors. At the very least the huge turbines, bigger than anything currently built in the UK, will detract from the wildness and peace of the area, both visually and audibly. The extensive foundations needed may well impact upon the delicate hydrology of the area (UU have not carried out geological and hydrological surveys) and there may be serious problems of bird strike. (Thorne Moors contain tiny populations of very rare species, and the loss of even one individual to turbines travelling at up to 250 mph at the tips could be significant).
Most damning of all are UU's own figures. They freely admitted, at the public consultation, that the average wind speed on the Tween Bridge site was 6.4 meters per second, which is below the accepted threshold for economical development of wind farms. Thanks to the Renewables Obligation, together with the Climate Change Levy exemption, this does not matter to them, as the breeze is strong enough to ring the "subsidised" cash registers.
The energy available is proportional to the cube of the wind speed, so this really is critical. In an area of average wind speed of 8 metres per second then there is twice as much energy available, so only half of the turbines need to be built to produce the same energy.
Because of this low wind speed the proposed Tween Bridge unit would acheive only about 20-25% of its theoretical capacity of 84MW. Drax has a capacity of 4000MW, and it operates practically continuously. So an average day's production of electricity at Tween Bridge would be achieved in just 7 minutes at Drax, and a whole year's output at Tween Bridge would be matched in less than 2 days at Drax. The amount of electricity produced by individual wind turbines is so tiny that huge areas of landscape would have to be scarred with them to produce anywhere near the governments renewables targets from wind energy - and we would still need all the conventional power stations to operate when the wind doesn't blow. Energy reduction through insulation, education and more efficient household goods is a far more realistic way of achieving the required reduction in carbon dioxide.
It is up to the public to decide whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for the community as a whole, not just to the shareholders of UU et al, and the landowners, in building wind farms on the Humberhead Levels.
