The British Wind Energy Association is the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries.
It aims to promote the use of renewable energy in the UK and support new technologies in the field. Chairman of the BWEA, Adam Bruce, speaks to ClickGreen.
ClickGreen: BWEA champions wind, tidal and wave energy in the UK. How vital is it that we switch to renewable energy sooner rather than later?
Adam Bruce: It is vital. We are embarking on a once in a lifetime transformation of the UK’s energy sector. This is driven by twin imperatives; to diversify our generation mix to avoid dependence on imported fuels; and, to significantly reduce our emission of greenhouse gases. We are moving from the age of fossils to an era of renewables.
CG: What are your views on the perceived ‘red tape’ surrounding the construction and implementation of renewable projects?
AB: The UK is not good at consenting large infrastructure projects, but is particularly bad at consenting renewable energy plant. When the current government introduced the RO support mechanism for renewable electricity, it failed to implement parallel reforms to our planning and grid systems to enable plant to be built on time and within the government’s own targets.
As a result, we have over 20GW of wind energy schemes in planning, with only 4GW operational. There is change coming, as the recent Energy and Planning Acts, as well as the change to Ofgem’s remit, should make the system more efficient. However, the UK has surrendered what could have been a position of global leadership in onshore renewables."
CG: Do you propose the UK can strike a balance between erecting wind turbines and preserving areas of natural beauty?
AB: I don’t think as a country we will ever approach the density of wind plant seen in Denmark or Germany. We don’t need to. We have a much better wind resource, and large areas of the country where wind can be developed without significant impact on the landscape. The approach taken by agencies like the RSPB, Natural England and SNH, to support onshore development within a broader objective of combating climate change, is welcome.
Equally, I think as an industry we need to do more to publicise the excellent work done by wind companies in habitat management and restoration. I can think of a number of schemes that I know in Scotland where the developers have worked closely with landowners, local communities and other bodies, to improve and nurture the landscape around their wind farm.
CG: Can the UK really be powered entirely from renewable energy in the future?
AB: Yes. You can develop a scenario where the UK generates over 50% of its electricity from domestic sources of wind and marine energy. Add to that other forms of renewable electricity generation, and then introduce interconnection to Europe to draw on Scandinavian hydro and Mediterranean solar, and you move in the direction of 100%. Heat and transport will be somewhere behind that particular horizon, but again, nothing is impossible.
The key to unlocking this scenario is to develop the UK’s renewable assets – particularly our formidable offshore wind, wave and tidal resources. Couple that with interconnection – a European “Supergrid” – and you are make renewable energy into the mainstream source of power for this country.
Our public policy objective to make this happen must be to enable the regulatory structures that will allow companies to interconnect wind farms and other offshore developments in the same way that we developed a complex series of gas pipelines across Europe over the last two decades of the 20th century.
CG: Last month the Government announced the Low Carbon plan with targets for renewable energy production. What was your reaction to it and is it doing enough for the industry?
AB: I am very encouraged by the direction of travel from government – and from the opposition. After a decade of mixed signals, we now have a clearly set out road map to the UK’s energy future.
I do think the targets – particularly for offshore wind by 2020 – are on the light side, but I am relieved that government has taken a long hard look at our energy needs, and concluded that renewable energy can and will play a large part in delivering power to consumers over the next decades.
There is always more that government can do. But the framework is in place, and with an election next year I am quietly confident, that whatever the result, the delivery of large scale renewable energy is now settled policy.
CG: The Vestas factory closure on the Isle of Wight has received a lot of publicity. This looks like a step backwards for wind production in the UK. Do you agree with the proposals for nationalising the factory?
AB: No. I don’t agree with nationalising anything. The situation at Vestas is a tragedy for the employees, their families and the wider island community, but it does not represent a failure of wind energy, nor the market for wind energy in the UK. If anything, it shows that the supply market for onshore turbines is very competitive.
Sadly, this competition means that no one manufacturer can generate enough market share to justify opening a plant just to service the UK.
I think the situation will be different with offshore wind, where the market dynamics are not the same, where we already have companies established here developing machines specifically for offshore, and where our oil and gas heritage gives us a global leadership position across the marine supply chain.
The prospects for wave and tidal energy are even more hopeful, with the world’s leading device developers based in the UK.
Adam Bruce, USA around 2 years, 5 months ago