Wind power industry blown off course by 'archaic' planning laws » Environment » 24dash.com

Wind turbines are the symbol for the UK's green revolution but as factories close the industry has warned it is being kept in the slow lane by "archaic" planning laws.

As the recession bites every harder on UK companies, Government estimates that a burgeoning eco industry could provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs were enthusiastically welcomed.

So the decision by turbine producer Vestas Wind Systems this week to close its Isle of Wight and Southampton factories was met with shock, not least from its workers.

After an 18-day protest in which some staff barricaded themselves into the Isle of Wight building, 425 people were made redundant, with a further 57 kept on to manage the closure of the sites.

The plight of the Vestas factories has sparked a debate about the future of green industries in the UK and the practical support given to firms.

Wind is a cornerstone of Government plans to meet its legally binding targets to reduce greenhouse gases by 34% by 2020.

Renewable energy sources are intended to supply 30% of electricity in a decade, with wind taking up the lion's share.

Danish-owned Vestas hit back at accusations that it shunned Government aid to keep the sites open and said a lack of orders had forced it to make the move.

The factories originally supplied turbine blades to the US wind farm industry and were intended to switch to manufacturing for the UK energy market, but Vestas found a lack of demand.

The company blamed a combination of the "credit crunch, weak currencies and lacking political support at a local level" for the decision but added that it would consider reinvesting in the UK should the market pick up.

It said its expansion in the US meant it was uneconomical and unenvironmental to continue transporting turbines from Europe to North America.

Vestas is the global leader in wind turbine manufacturing. Other big players in the European market include German-based Enercon, Spanish firm Gamesa and Siemens, which has facilities in Denmark and the US.

"The UK has very favourable wind conditions, but the present market is not large enough to justify the required investment to convert the Isle of Wight factory to produce blades for the UK market," Vestas said.

"In particular, the local planning process for onshore wind power plants in the UK remains an obstacle to the development of the market."

Energy firms have complained that it is the long, complicated and uncertain planning process that has clipped their wings, slowing the development of wind power.

Wind farm company Ecotricity has launched a scathing attack on the Government's planning rules.

The firm, which recently lost its bid to get permission for its Silton Park development by North Devon Council, said there was "huge frustration" in the industry over the complexity of the planning process.

It said the preparation of a planning application can take as long as a year before councils make their own assessments.

Ecotricity said local campaigns by residents worried about noise from the farms and changes to the countryside often override the views of a council's own experts.

Dale Vince, Ecotricity managing director, said: "Archaic planning laws have stunted the growth of our wind industry - keeping projects stuck in planning hell for years on end."

He said Government plans to alter rules for projects over 50 megawatts would have limited impact as the majority of wind developments are on a much smaller scale.

"The Government needs to get a grip on the planning system, every week we hear of a new target being set or adopted for onshore wind energy - there's no chance of hitting any of them until the Government ends the absurd anomaly of wind energy being the only energy source in the UK that gets its planning consent from local councils," he said.

There are plans to improve the way councils assess wind farms plans, with a consultation on more explicit guidance later this year, but Ecotricity said the plans do not go far enough.

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) blames long waiting times and uncertainty in the planning process for a lack of investment in the industry.

Turbines are predominantly imported from manufacturers in Germany, Denmark and Spain, countries that have captured the market for European wind energy manufacturing.

And the BWEA believes the UK market alone is too small to sustain a homegrown factory in the long term.

It said manufacturers would have to be sure they could win around 1 gigawatt (GW) of orders each year but that competition between the half dozen companies making turbines for the UK meant that it was unlikely any individual firm would be able to capture enough of the market to warrant the investment.

Britain has a potential onshore wind capacity of between 12GW and 14GW, BWEA said, with 3GW currently installed and another 3GW in the approved and waiting to be built stage.

Wind farms of just 0.9GW, requiring 444 turbines, are currently in production and these could be working in one or two years.

Planning permission is also being sought for another 3,305 turbines - or 7.8GW - which BWEA said would create enough energy to power 5 million homes.

In the meantime, another, albeit small, growth area for the UK market is in research and development.

The UK, along with Germany, Denmark and the US, was at the forefront of developing wind energy technology in the 1970s and while it fell behind in the race to build a manufacturing base it has retained some of its status as a centre for research.

In fact Vestas has announced plans to expand its research and development site on the Isle of Wight.

The centre - which has taken 40 workers from the nearby factory and currently employs 110 people - will be capable of designing, manufacturing prototypes and testing the largest wind turbine blades and is expected to open in 2011.

Vestas has also received a £6 million Government grant for research into offshore wind as part of a Department for Energy and Climate Change
(DECC) project to hand out around £10 million in grants for that part of the industry.

And while the growth of onshore wind is seen as sluggish, offshore wind is tipped for a potentially dramatic boom.

The UK is currently the world leader in the emerging offshore wind field, despite having just 0.6GW currently installed.

The Crown Estate has already allocated offshore sites around the country under the first two rounds of an ambitious project to meet the Government's targets for 33GW of energy production by 2020.

A third round will see firms granted leases by the end of the year and a project in Scottish waters will add a further 6.4GW to the UK energy pot.

Dermot Grimson, head of external affairs at the Crown Estate, said there has been competition for all of the initial sites, with firms involved in the initial developments including E.ON, npower and EDF.

He said offshore wind presents a considerable business opportunity for firms, particularly those involved in the technological side of the developments.

"There is a big manufacturing opportunity coming up," he said.

"We would like to see that happen in the UK."

There have been concerns that the development of offshore sites will be hampered by a lack of equipment - notably specialist barges to get the turbines out to their destination sites, which are also used by the oil and gas industries and currently in short supply.

"The two hurdles that need to be overcome are: one the supply chain, including the provision of barges, the other is the grid," Mr Grimson said.

"All these things are obviously a concern but we are happy with progress."

The Crown Estate has conducted research with the National Grid into attaching the offshore sites to the main electricity system.

And as the third round of developments are not expected to begin until around 2015, he said there would be time for companies to manufacture the equipment needed.

A benefit of the offshore system is that it falls under the Government's revised plans for granting planning permission, so after developments get the green light from the Crown Estate, the decision on whether to allow developments to go ahead rests with the DECC.

Mr Grimson added: "The right things are happening and people are saying the right things.

"But there needs to be continued urgency and focus."