Dear
Fellow Villager,
I am
writing to you about wind power to accompany an article (see a copy by going to the coloured Section 2, in the right-hand column, and clicking on the item entitled '* New 02) 'Germany's wind power chaos is a warning to us' by Christopher Brooker in
the Sunday Telegraph and published last weekend. I hope his article and my
email below will ensure that you come and join our demonstration at the
Sellindge Sports & Social Club in Swan Lane at 1.30pm on Saturday 29th
September (tomorrow).
When
most of us first heard about wind power to generate electricity we welcomed it
with enthusiasm. After all, wind comes free of charge. Free energy – what a
wonderful idea! But slowly at first, we began to discover that nothing comes
for free, least of all wind power. The so called ‘bribes’ to local authorities
who are prepared to accept wind turbines have to be paid for. Who pays? We who
pay our electricity bills pay. The rent that is paid to farmers or land owners
– according to Press Reports up to £40,000 per turbine per year – a small
fortune - has to be paid. Who pays? We who pay our electricity bills pay. Then
there is the huge cost of manufacture and installation together with
maintenance. Who pays – we who pay our electricity bills pay. As Christopher
Brooker points out in his article, Germany has 29,000 wind turbines and they
have the most expensive electricity in Europe.
One of
the reasons for the high cost of generating electricity from the ‘free’ wind
power is that the wind doesn’t always blow. Two issues arise from this
unreliability of wind power. The first is that wind power in the UK is only 25%
efficient. Companies like Ecotricity claim a capacity to provide electricity
for so many thousands of homes. That is if they could run at 100% efficiency. But
they don’t. They run at an average of 25%, merely a quarter of what they claim.
Then there is the amazing fact that to ensure that our supplies of electricity
can be met, we must continue to build and run conventional or nuclear power
stations. Since in this situation these back up power stations run
inefficiently, any carbon saving made by wind power is added back by the
conventional processes running when they are not needed..
Now I
wonder if you, like me, expect to hear from anyone in authority – anyone – who
will give some explanation as to why we who live in the countryside should
suffer the imposition of such huge machine with their noise and movement and
malign presence when the claims made for wind power are false. Yes, it might be
true that 65% of the population welcome Wind Turbines but of those, how many
live in countryside where wind turbines might be built and indeed how
many of the city dwellers have ever seen a wind turbine – not many.
In
opposing the Ecotricity Planning Application for six turbines in
Sellindge we have to concentrate upon other reasons for stopping them. I just
wanted to take this opportunity to mention some of the reasons that cannot be
accepted in the Shepway planning debate, about giant wind turbines that should
not be built here..
Please
do come and join us in our protest on Saturday. Radio Kent will be
broadcasting a local interview on Saturday morning at about 7.10am and
BBC television and the Press have asked for film and pictures. But most of all,
Ecotricity and our Planners will be in no doubt that Sellindge and Lympne are
not the right places for six 410ft high wind turbines.
I look
forward to seeing you on Saturday,
Ronald
Lello
Chairman Sellindge and District Residents
Association
