Wind Giants Blackmail The UK — Demand Even More Subsidies

In a move that gives the lie to years of propaganda claiming falling costs, the wind industry’s leading lobbyists have written to the Government, threatening to abandon the UK unless there are hugely increased subsidies for their companies (see RenewableUK press release).

The industry is claiming that unforeseen rising costs now necessitate and justify three actions [emphasis, links added]:

1) A vast increase in the budget for the fifth auction (AR5) of Contracts for Difference subsidies, with an increase of two and half times the current levels for non-floating offshore wind alone;

2) Special new targets and thus market shares for floating offshore wind, one of the most expensive of all forms of generation, and, most importantly of all,

3) a revision to the auction rules so that the winners are not determined by the lowest bids but by an administrative decision that weights bids according to their “value” in contributing toward the Net Zero targets.

This would not only increase total subsidies to an industry that was until recently claiming to be so cheap that it no longer needed public support but also provide it with protected market shares, all but entirely derisking investors at the expense of consumers.

It would also be an open invitation to graft and corruption.

The Government should reject these self-serving demands on three grounds:

1. The UK economy cannot be expected to continue to subsidize a sector that is still uneconomic after nearly twenty years of above-market prices and guaranteed market share. The wind experiment has failed and must be wound down.

2. UK consumers of all kinds, from households to businesses, are already experiencing extreme pressures on budgets, and a further burden on the energy bill simply cannot be tolerated. Government must recognize that households and businesses are unable to afford yet more subsidies to the wind industry.

3. The industry’s current cost difficulties are neither unforeseen nor unpredicted but have been obvious to careful observers for over a decade.

Dr. John Constable, NZW’s energy director, said:

“It would be both absurd and counterproductive for the government to bail out the wind industry in spite of the evident failure to reduce costs. A refusal to learn from mistakes will be disastrous.”