Letter: Assault on battery wind power storage

WHY is it that wind generation supporters always seem to jump to the same silly conclusion: that opponents of large scale wind generation are against all renewables?

Peter Simmons (Debate, 15 August) certainly jumps in with both feet with his misguided assertions. He also appears to be of the opinion that I am unaware of storage schemes or battery systems.

For his edification he should know that during the construction of Dinorwig Pump-Storage Scheme in North Wales, I was involved in various electrical ground tests around the site.

Turning to renewables, it is only large-scale wind generation that I am against, for all the obvious reasons - surely Peter Simmons is aware that E.ON has stated quite clearly and publicly that no one would be building wind farms without the subsidy.

I was born in Cardiff, a port on the Severn Estuary, which has the second highest tidal range in the world and has the capacity to generate about 5 per cent of the UK's electrical energy needs.

Dave Haskell, Boncath, Pembs

PETER Simmons (Debate, 15 August) is mistaken about nuclear power. Although its life cycle does produce carbon dioxide, it is only about half that of wind power on the same basis.

It is not true that there is no uranium (ore) in Scotland; it has been detected in Orkney. Uranium is imported but it doesn't need to be; plenty of uranium is available from reprocessing used fuel.

Steuart Campbell, Edinburgh

IT is now well known that onshore wind farms can generate electricity only about 30 per cent of the time for lack of wind at the right strength. Proponents of wind power, such as Peter Simmons seem embarrassed by this fatal flaw.

He claims that when the wind blows at inappropriate times, say, 2 or 3 am, when demand for electricity is low, it can be stored for use later. He suggests batteries, but the battery - or battery of batteries - that could store the output of, say, a 50 megawatt windfarm has never been devised. If it were, its cost would be prohibitive.

Why don't all those windfarm touters give up on wind, and turn their energy to other feasible schemes?

Robert Shirley, via e-mail

PETER Simmons spreads a dangerous misconception by suggesting that batteries can solve the problem of wobbling industrial scale wind power.

The nearest to success was Innogy's Regenesys flow-cell battery system at Little Barford power station, twinned with a Tennessee Valley Authority project.However, when Germany's RWE took over Innogy the projects were scrapped in 2003 after 140 million expenditure!

Vanadium redox flow cells are another possibility, again with energy storage in external tanks of electrolyte thus overcoming the limited electricity capacity of conventional secondary batteries.

However wind power is already very expensive in capital per unit generating yield, and nigh on doubling the cost with huge battery plants will never work all the time that fossil fuels are available - probably a couple of centuries even at present rates.

Dr John Etherington, Haverfordwest, Pembs