A firm anti-windfarm campaigner has questioned the feasibility of relying on wind energy to meet Scotland’s electricity needs after government statistics suggest that windfarms may not be the answer.
Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser made his comments after the Department for Energy and Climate Change released figures showing that, despite a 30% increase in installed wind capacity, energy generation from these grew by only 11%.
In the first quarter of 2013 there are six GW of installed renewables in Scotland, and a further eight GW are required to meet the Scottish Government’s ambitious 2020 renewable energy targets.
Mr Fraser said: “These statistics are illustrative of the fundamental flaws of flooding our landscape with wind turbines.
“Wind power is responsible for nearly 70% of the current Scottish renewables portfolio.”
Mr Fraser went on: “The intermittency of wind power is still without solution and, until that is met, Scotland or any other nation cannot realistically move to wind power without significant reserves of inefficiently-run backup power generation.
“Building more onshore wind farms is not the solution, and the Scottish Government must consider diversifying the energy generation mix for a more balanced energy policy,” he added.