Wind farm research triggers CO2 row

Energy experts this week challenged claims that an over-reliance on wind power would undermine Britain's efforts to cut carbon emissions.

Last month Parsons Brinckerhoff warned that plans to install up to 30GW of wind energy around the UK would not necessarily deliver the carbon reductions expected.

Its report Powering the Future says that extra back-up power generation capacity will be needed to pick up shortfalls in wind generated electricity during calm weather.It argues that this capacity would have to come from high emission gas fired plants (NCE 26 November).

This week it has emerged that two key pieces of research used by the consultant were published by an anti-wind lobby group the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF).

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"In general, that report makes no distinction between power capacity and its rate of use: keeping fossil-fuel burning power plants available for those times wind does not blow does not mean that they will emit at high rates, as they will be used only very rarely," said Jerome Guillet, head of energy at Belgian bank Dexia. Guillet also said the report can be read as being in support of a major roll-out of wind power capacity because back-up power can be sourced from elsewhere in the national grid.

"That argument suggests that wind can easily be integrated if other capacity exists or can be connected to, and that is the case in the UK," he said.

National Grid OKs deal to buy Deepwater's wind-generated power

PROVIDENCE -- National Grid has agreed to purchase electricity from Deepwater Wind's proposed wind farm off Block Island in a critical step forward for the offshore wind developer's plans to bring clean energy to Rhode Island.

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National Grid will pay Deepwater 24.4 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity starting in 2013 when the eight-turbine wind farm three miles from Block Island is expected to go on line. The price will then rise by 3.5 percent annually over the 20-year agreement.

National Grid estimates that the typical Rhode Island household's annual electric bill -- which currently stands at about $957 -- will see an increase of $16.20 in the first year of the contract. That includes a 2.75-percent markup on electricity generated from renewable sources that National Grid is allowed by state law. It also includes the cost of a power cable from Block Island to the mainland that would be required for the project. The wind farm would supply power to Block Island, but any excess would be fed to the rest of the state.

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At an offshore wind-energy conference in Boston last week, an executive from a leading European bank that finances wind-energy projects said that a long-term contract is the most important incentive for lenders. Such a contract ensures pricing stability and guarantees a return on investment, said Jerome Guillet, head of energy in Dexia Credit Local's Structured Finance group.

In an interview, William Moore, chief executive officer of Deepwater, said the agreement is critically important to his company in securing financing for the project.

"A project like this would not happen without a PPA [power-purchase agreement]," he said. In a letter filed with the signed agreement, National Grid attorney Ronald T. Gerwatowski said power from the wind farm will be more expensive than from conventional sources, which average about 9.2 cents per kilowatt hour.