John Hutton's announcement over the weekend that the UK will invest massively in offshore wind power is great news for that industry, and for the UK renewables market in general.
http://environment.independent.co.uk/green_living/article3236132.ece
It was really the only option for hitting the UK's carbon targets for 2020 - nuclear would just take too long to come online.
It will be very interesting to watch the effect this major decision has on the rest of the UK energy market. Will investors now feel more confident backing renewable technologies?
Charles Anglin, Director of Communications for BWEA, said on Channel 4 news last night that the current national grid is not fit for such a large dependency on wind power (renewable electricity sources are not so predictable or controllable as conventional gas or nuclear power stations).
So, a large investment will be needed to enable the national grid connections and infrastructure. Will these improvements make the national grid more suitable for distributed generation from other renewables?
It will also be interesting to look at the supply/demand paradigm that this new infrastructure will support. When wind energy supply is high and demand is low will energy companies reduce the cost of electricity to help match supply and demand? In countries like Ireland which will be even more dependent on wind than the UK, there is talk of energy companies even paying users to use electricity when supply outstrips demand. What in turn will these users do with the surplus electricity?
I'd like to see it used to electrolyse hydrogen that can be used as fuel for transport and for fuelling stationary power generation when wind supply is low and demand is high.
Whatever the precise mechanics will be, I for one look forward to seeing how it develops.
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