Who will build the wind farms?
Most of the major utility companies – like British Gas (Centrica) and NPower – have invested in the industry. Are windfarm plans realistic? About a dozen firms – such as Airtricity, EDF and Eon are currently running or planning offshore wind farms. There are already five major off-shore wind farms generating power for the national grid: North Hoyle, off the coast of North Wales, operated by NPower; Scroby Sands, off the coast of Great Yarmouth (Eon); Kentish Flats off Whitstable in Kent (Vattenfall), Barrow off the Cumbrian coast (Dong Energy/Centrica) and Burbo bank, in the mouth of the Mersey river (Dong Energy). How expensive are they? Offshore wind farms cost significantly more to build and maintain than their onshore equivalent. And because they involve new and untested technology they also suffer from “first of a kind” costs. But the industry is confident that those costs will fall over time. It is difficult to compare the cost of electricity obtained from a wind farm rather than
