Energy minister Mike O’Brien has
insisted that planning authorities in south-west England need
to make greater provision for windfarms.
His comments came when he spoke a
regional conference on renewable energy held in Plymouth.
O’Brien said: "If we do not do
anything now, what we are basically saying is that we will not
hit targets for emissions, the climate will continue to be
damaged and we will bequeath to our children a much more
threatening environment than our own."
At
present, most windfarm development in the South-West is
concentrated in Cornwall.
Devon currently has no turbines
although this is set to change next year. One estimate
suggests the region will need some 280 turbines to meet
current government targets, nearly three times as many as
currently exist on established windfarms.
In a related development, proposals
for what would be the world’s largest onshore windfarm have
been formally proposed for the Isle of Lewis where British
Energy and AMEC have plans for a 234-turbine project.
The scheme has already run into
opposition from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
(RSPB).
Meanwhile, the British Wind Energy
Association has welcomed the Welsh Assembly Government’s
latest guidance on renewable development, in the shape of an
updated Technical Advice Note 8.
But the association has warned that
realising the potential for new wind schemes in Wales will
depend crucially on consents for new grid infrastructure in
the guise of new power transmission lines.
View the 'Consultation on Draft
Ministerial Interim Planning Policy Statement on Renewable
Energy and Draft Technical Advice Note 8: Renewable Energy'
here .
