Wind power comes at a very high price

RECENTLY you reported that the Spirit of Ireland group was planning an enormous investment in pumped storage solutions to back up the wind energy industry by storing off-peak electricity generated by wind turbines and releasing it at times of peak demand.

Their incredibly ambitious scheme envisages complete energy independence in as little as five years.

It needs to be pointed out that electricity from wind energy is reckoned to be two or three times more expensive than nuclear power.

In addition, the inefficiencies involved in pumped storage will mean that 25% of the energy generated by the turbines will be lost.

One-third of electricity produced in Europe now comes from nuclear and about one-tenth from hydro. Both of these sources will provide decisive advantages in the years to come and the proportion of power generated by nuclear is only likely to grow.

If this group succeeds in its aim to make Ireland totally dependent on this new wind-based infrastructure, we will end up with electricity costs much more than twice as high as our nuclear competitors.

John Stafford

Dargle Wood

Knocklyon

Dublin 16