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Civitas wind power report ‘relies on the work of cranks’

9 January 2012

  • Civitas study inflates cost of wind energy by relying on inaccurate assumptions
  • The report, ‘Electricity costs: the folly of wind power’, fails to understand how modern grid works
  • Study relies heavily on non-peer-reviewed research from anti-wind groups

RenewableUK, the trade association for the wind, wave & tidal industry, has criticised a report published by the thinktank Civitas for failing to understand how wind power works as part of the UK’s electricity generation system.

The study, by Ruth Lea, Director of Civitas’s Manufacturing Renewal Project, claims that both onshore and offshore wind power are the most expensive forms of electricity generation. This is based on research by Colin Gibson, a former Director of National Grid (1993-1997), who recently spoke at an anti-wind conference in Scotland.

Mr Gibson’s research was based on a range of assumptions, particularly the need to build a new fleet of rapid-response gas power stations (known as open-cycle gas turbines, or OCGT) to back up wind generation on a MW-for-MW basis. These assumptions significantly inflate the cost of energy from wind.

Dr Gordon Edge, RenewableUK’s Director of Policy, said “Mr Gibson’s assumptions, upon which Ms Lea relies, are outliers to the mainstream of analysis in this area, to put it mildly. Dedicated OCGT plants are not required to provide back-up for wind. Instead, wind can be integrated into our existing electricity system to act as a fuel saver, enabling us to harness the weather when it’s available. Some additional investment is required, but credible analysis puts the cost at one-sixth of Mr Gibson’s inflated claims even with wind providing two-thirds of our power.”

Ms Lea’s report makes extensive use of non-peer-reviewed research from a range of anti-wind organizations.

“It is surprising that a think tank such as Civitas has published a report based on the work of anti-wind cranks, repeating the same discredited assertions. The UK’s energy policy over the next ten years will play a critical part in our economic success – offshore wind in particular has the potential to revitalise our manufacturing sector, with the promise of over 70,000 jobs. This report, based on outdated and inaccurate information, does nothing to advance the debate.” Dr Edge concluded.

-ENDS-

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Notes:

  1. RenewableUK is the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries. Formed in 1978, and with more than 700 corporate members, RenewableUK is the leading renewable energy trade association in the UK. Wind has been the world's fastest growing renewable energy source for the last seven years, and this trend is expected to continue with falling costs of wind energy and the urgent international need to tackle CO2 emissions to prevent climate change.
  2. Mr Gibson spoke at the Communities Against Turbines Scotland conference in November 2011: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-15542442
  3. A full analysis of the additional costs involved in incorporating wind and other forms of variable generation into the grid can be found in ‘Analysing technical constraints on renewable generation to 2050’ by Poyry: http://hmccc.s3.amazonaws.com/Renewables%20Review/232_Report_Analysing%20the%20technical%20constraints%20on%20renewable%20generation_v8_0.pdf