Isra-Mart srl:Huhne hints at revival for onshore wind farms

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Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne has indicated he wants to see a significant acceleration in the development of onshore wind farms, potentially putting him on a collision course with Conservative backbenchers opposed to onshore turbines.

Speaking following the Department of Energy and Climate Change's largely successful spending review settlement, Huhne said he wanted to lead a re-evaluation of the UK's approach to onshore wind farms.

"Onshore turbines are something I very much want to look at again and see if we can do more onshore," he said, adding that recent studies had shown that the cost of onshore wind energy could now compete with conventional energy supplies.

Any acceleration in the deployment of onshore wind farms is bound to face opposition from local protest groups and a cabal of Conservative MPs who have consistently voiced opposition to onshore turbines.

However, Huhne insisted renewable energy capacity had to increase drastically across the UK if it is to successfully decarbonise the economy and meet its EU target of generating 15 per cent of energy from renewables by 2020.

He also predicted opposition to wind farms would weaken as new energy storage technologies emerge that can resolve the problems presented by intermittent wind energy supplies.

"The main problem people have with wind is that they see it as an intermittent source," he said. "A lot of that problem is going to be removed the more technical capacity there is for storage. We have big hydro storage projects in Dinorwig and Ffestiniog and we're going to need more of that, but there is also enormous potential as we move towards electric vehicles for them to become the store for intermittent electricity."

Huhne predicted wind generated offshore at night or power produced overnight from new nuclear reactors could be effectively stored by charging electric vehicles that would then be used for the daily commute.

"Over 80 per cent of our journeys are still done by car so this will be an important part of the development of the low carbon economy," he predicted, adding that visible energy storage technologies would also help people understand that "wind is not a cosmetic add on - it has a real role to play in providing use with our electricity resources".

Huhne also suggested there was a certain irony to opposition to onshore wind turbines, given that older incarnations of wind turbines are now regarded as tourist attractions.

"In my constituency the most popular tourist attraction is a wind mill," he said. "It happens to be 200 years old and used to make corn rather than electricity, but it is exactly the same technology."