Wind industry will ‘collapse’ due to government subsidies

Subsidies are "a disastrous way of developing a new sector" and will lead to the collapse of the wind sector, according to the director of the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF).

Dr John Constable, director of the anti-wind think tank, said the “generous subsidies” in the wind sector will prevent innovations which will make the turbines cost effective once the funding ends.

Turbine owners received £1.2 billion in support last year, and Constable said this support mechanism will be “written off in the future as a classic case of an industrial sector being destroyed by over support.”

Constable also criticised the subsidies, as “a very expensive way of creating work,” following reports that the 12,000 employees of the wind turbine owners effectively cost £100,000 each.

However, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) said these figures were not representative of the whole sector because there were additional jobs created in the supply chain.

A spokesman added that without the subsidies, householders would also be paying an average of £60 more for their electricity bills.

Renewable UK added that job creation is “not the only reason for developing our natural resources”.

A spokesperson said: “Without generating electricity, developers don’t get paid a penny, no matter how many people they employ.”

Renewable UK also refutes Constable’s claims that the subsidies are inhibiting innovation, saying the costs are coming down, the subsidies have been reduced and innovation, such as floating turbines, is taking place.

The spokesperson added: “The support for onshore wind has been reduced and the offshore cost reduction task force has set out plans to reduce costs.”