The news that a project to build Northern Ireland’s first off-shore wind farm has collapsed, poses “serious questions” about the role of wind in hitting renewable energy targets, according to Conservative economy spokesman, Johnny Andrews. First Flight Wind consortium have scrapped plans to erect 100 turbines, off the County Down coast.
“It is a shame to see an ambitious project brought to a halt”, Johnny said. “However, it demonstrates that there are still some serious difficulties with making wind power a viable, cost effective energy source, in Northern Ireland. Currently we don’t have adequate infrastructure to access other energy markets and the Executive has no policy on the pricing of electricity in general.”
“Our most serious issues are around the costs of energy, which affect the competitiveness of manufacturing, in particular. These are exacerbated by an arbitrary, unrealistic target to generate 40% of our electricity through renewable sources, by 2020. We’re not going to hit that figure and the Executive should be commissioning expert advice now, in order to develop a more achievable target.”
“In Northern Ireland, there are serious doubts about relying upon wind power to hit renewable energy targets. Hydro-electricity, tidal energy, anaerobic digestion and geo-thermal have all played second fiddle to unsightly, costly wind farms. The collapse of this latest project illustrates the urgency of reviewing Northern Ireland’s energy mix. It also underlines the importance of the Executive developing a strategy to tackle energy costs, rather than focussing only on changing the means of supply and increasing the percentage of renewable energy sources.”