The future for wind energy development in the U.K.; Prospects and problems

Renewable Energy, Vol.5, Part I, pp. 44-57, 1994 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain 0960-1481/94 $7.00+0.00

Pergamon

THE FUTURE FOR WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN THE U.K.; PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS D. LINDLEY, FEng National Wind Power Ltd., Riverside House, Meadowbank, Furlong Road, Bourne End, Buckinghamshire SL8 5AJ, U.K.

ABSTRACT There are now 22 windfarms with a total installed capacity of approximately 140 MW which are operational or under construction in the U.K. These windfarms will generate about 360 GWh in a full year and provide the electricity needs of about 250,000 individuals and save the emission of about 400,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. Developments so far have required an investment of about £140 million provided mostly by banks and large corporate investors. Financing of these projects has broken new ground for renewable energy technologies and established a framework for the financing of windfarms built in the U.K. and elsewhere in the world. This rapid development has created challenges for the planning process and thirteen public inquiries have been held. Eight of these have been successful. Statutory and other bodies have responded to the rapid deployment of windfarms by issuing guidelines and these together with Public Inquiry documentation now provide invaluable guidance for the industry. The U.K. market is arguably the most 'open' in Europe and Danish Wind Turbine manufacturers have gained over 50 per cent of the total market. A Japanese manufacturer has gained 25 per cent whilst the major U.K. turbine supplier has gained 17 per cent market share. There are still over thirty turbine manufacturers worldwide and signs that a combination of innovation and market pressures are continuing to reduce the costs of wind energy. Whilst 80 per cent of all wind farms built using NFFO 1 and NFFO 2 contracts have been built by only four U.K. developers there are many more bidding into the NFFO 3 round. There have been 234 wind energy registrations in England and Wales and probably over 70 in Scotland. The nameplate capacity of all these projects is likely to exceed 2000 MW. Wind Energy in the U.K. is clearly a rapidly developing industry and its further development will need a sensitive response from the industry in order to recognise concerns of visual intrusion and noise whilst maintaining the majority public support that wind farming currently enjoys. KEYWORDS Windfarms; Planning; Economics; Performance; Development; Financing; Public Opinion.

44

45 INTRODUCTION

The UK wind energy resource has for some years been recognised as the best in Europe, and the report of the Renewable Energy Advisory Group (REAG, 1992) published in December 1992, concludes that the 'accessible' potential for wind energy from sites on land in the UK was over 300 TWh/year. This potential slightly exceeds the present OK total electricity consumption, and is far larger than the assessed accessible potential of any other renewable energy source in the UK. The REAG report went on to estimate what contribution could be made by the various renewable energy technologies in the UK by the year 2005, after allowing for constraints such as integration into the electricity network, the success rate in achieving planning consents, and the economics of renewable energy technologies relative to the more conventional generation options. It concludes that windfarms in the UK could provide about 20 TWh/year by the year 2005 at a cost of about 4p/kwh (assuming an 8 per cent discount rate). The report recommends that the Government should underwrite a floor level of 1500 MW declared net capacity (DNC) of new renewables in the UK by the year 2000, to be achieved by a succession of renewable energy orders (REO). If the Government reflects REAG's assessment of the relative significance of the various renewable energy options in the arrangements it makes to support renewables, via future Renewable Energy Orders, one might expect about 850 MW of wind power capacity out of the 1500 MW of new renewables capacity that is proposed. More recently, the Department of Trade and Industry published its latest assessment of Renewable Energy for the U.K. (An Assessment of Renewable Energy for the U.K., 1994). This estimates the maximum "Practicable Resource" available at less than 5p/kWh for 2005 at 8 per cent real rate of return to be over 40 TWh/year, or about 15 per cent of the U.K's total electricity needs. Even more importantly it estimates that the energy contribution from wind could be up to 32 TWh/year, with no increase in system operating costs (which it says would be needed to allow the integration of larger amounts of energy into the existing grid system). The report provides evidence that at 8 per cent real rate of return all this energy (i.e. 32 TWh/year) could be produced at less than 4p/kWh. The first steps taken in the UK to establish a legislative and financial framework whereby the potential of the renewables could be developed came when the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO) was introduced as part of the 1989 Electricity Act and was primarily intended through the Fossil Fuel Levy, to provide a support mechanism for the nuclear industry in the interests of diversity and security of supply. The NFFO allows the Secretary of State to require the regional electricity companies to secure specified amounts of non-fossil generated capacity and two orders to this effect have been introduced for renewables, the first in 1990 for 102 MW of capacity and the second in November 1991 for a further 457 MW. The 1990 NFFO tranche approved five windfarms at a price of around 9p/kWh for a 1998 cut-off and the 1991 wind tranche awarded contracts to 49 wind energy projects which included 38 windfarms. The 1991 order for wind energy had a total capacity of 82.4 MW Declared Net Capacity (equivalent to 18 per cent of the NFFO order) and had a price of lip/kWh but still had the December 1998 end date for the contract period. This paper reviews the success the industry has had in responding to the opportunity provided by the NFFO and gives details of experience associated with financing, planning and operations.

WINDFARMS BUILT OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION As of mid June 1994, twenty two windfarms have been built. Details of these twenty two windfarms given in Table 1. From this it can be seen that a total of about 400 turbines with a total nameplate rating of about 140 MW have been built or are under construction. This development has meant a total investment of approximately £140 million. The Table also shows that the Danish turbine manufacturers have gained the major share of the market with Vestas gaining about 28 per cent market share, Bonus 19 per cent and Nordtank 5 per cent. The Japanese manufacturer, Mitsubishi gained 25 per cent with are

46

turbine orders for the UK's largest windfarm at Llandinam in Wales (l~'ojects 11 and 12 in the table are contiguous) whilst the UK's only turbine manufacturer, Wind Energy Group sold turbines to four projects and gained about 17 per'cent of the market. Carter, (owned partly by a UK investor) of the USA and HMZ of Belgium gained about 2.5 per cent each.

The Table also shows that this development activity was dominated by four windfarm developers. These are National Wind Power, Ecogen, Yorkshire Water (and its partner Yorkshire Electricity) and Renewable Energy Systems. Between them they have developed about 80 per cent of the total installations (by rating). There are several reasons for this but the main one is associated with the cost of the development process and the skills required to bring a project to a successful outcome and the ability to finance the investment in the windfarm. A wide range of skills is required to complete the development process and the costs of legal work and environmental statements required to obtain planning consent and finance are high. Given the delays between issues of NFFO contract awards and the risks of either, a) not being awarded a contract, b) not obtaining planning consent, and c) not being able to raise finance, the financial risk for developers is high. Table 1 Site

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Delabole, Cornwall Carland Cross, Cornwall Cemmaes, Powys Chelker, Yorkshire Haverigg, Cumbria Rhyd-y-Groes, Anglesey Blyth Harbour, Northumberland W i n t e r t o n on Sea, Norfolk Great Orton, Cumbria Coal Clough,

Lancs

11

Penrhyddlan,

Powys

12

Llidiartywaun,

13

Cold Northcott, Cornwall Llangwyryfon, Dyfed Ovenden Moor, Yorks

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Powys

Goonhilly, Cornwall Kirkby Moor, Cumbria Taff Ely, M i d Glamorgan Royd Moor, Yorks. Werfa, Wales Bryn Titli, St Breock, Cornwall TOTALS

in the U.K.

Developer

10

14 15

Wlndfarm8

(June 1994) Turbine Type

No.of Turblnes

Install -ed MW

Commis8ioning Date

Wlndelectric Renewable Energy Systems National Wind Power Yorkshire Water Windcluster Ecogen Biyth Harbour

Vestas VeBta8

10 15

4 6

Nov. 1991 Aug. 1992

WEG WEG Vestas Bonus HMZ

24 4 5 24 9

7.2 1.2 1.25 7.2 2.7

Nov.1992 Dec. 1992 Oct. 1992 Dec. 1992 Jan. 1993

Euros Power

Vestas

1O

2.25

Dec. 1992

Carter Wind Turbines Renewable Energy Systems Ecogen

Carter

10

3

Jan. 1993

Vestas

24

9.6

Feb. 1993

Mitsubishi Mitsubishl WEG

43

12.9

Jan, 1993

60

18

Jan. 1993

22

6.7

Apr. 1993

Ecogen National Wind Power National Wind Power Yorkshire Wind Power Cornwall L & P National Wind Power Perma Energy

WEG Vestas

20 23

6.0 9.2

June 1993 June 1993

Vestas Vestas Nordtank

14 12 20

5.6 4.8 9.0

Apr. 1993 Sep. 1993 Aug. 1993

Yorkshire Water Windstar Turbines National Wind Power Eco~en

Bonus Windstar Bonus Bonus

13 20 22 11

5.85 0.5 9.9 4.95

Dec. June June June

415

137.8

1993 1994 1994 1994

47 THE D E V E L O P M E N T PROCESS This comes under four main headings as follows: Develooment - comprising: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Site identification Wind data acquisition site assessment grid interface engineering land lease negotiation site design environmental assessments planning consents wayleaves and grid connection agreements power purchase contract bidding energy forecasts risk assessment financial modelling financing

Proiect Engineering including: • • • • • • • • •

site engineering turbine selection tendering procurement project management site management operation and maintenance quality safety

Finance including: Banking relationships Project Investment Appraisal Project and other Insurances Management of Windfarm Accounts Legal including: establishment of project companies land lease agreements planning documentation construction contract documentation credit and other financial agreements public inquiries joint venture and shareholder agreements insurance documentation interface with external legal advisers.

48 This process is likely to require a considerable investment on the part of the developer. Since the 1991 NFFO order, developers have had to continue to invest in the hope of being awarded contracts in the 1994 NFFO, the outcome of which, will not be known until November 1994. The 'lumpy' nature of the NFFO process has therefore caused the industry considerable difficulty, though this does not seem to have deterred more developers from entering the market. Some of these are listed in Table 2. Mr Eggar, The Minister for Energy, announced in March that he had received over 650 renewable energy submissions in response to the NFFO 3 round for which he had previously declared his intention to award contracts for up to 400 MW (DNC) of new renewables. Two hundred and thirty four of these submissions were for wind energy. The Scottish Office has also announced that they have received 190 submissions for renewable energy projects in Scotland. Of these, it is understood that over 70 are for wind projects. All these wind energy projects taken together have a total nameplate rating probably in excess of 2000 MW. The form filling exercise alone will cost the developer at least £5000 per application to cover man-hours, costs of site identification, meteorology (13 weeks of wind data are required to qualify as a project) and legal fees (for landlease agreements etc). In some cases developers will have progressed some of their projects through the planning stage which will have required an environmental assessment (costing between £30,000 and £60,000) and in a handful of cases engaged them in costly public inquiries. The industry as a whole is therefore investing very considerable sums in the attempt to obtain NFFO Contracts. It can only hope that Mr Eggar will reward them for their entrepreneurial endeavour by not setting some artificially low 'cap' to each of the NFFO tranches. An early indication of what the industry might expect came when the Minister for the Economy and the Environment in Northern Ireland announced in March that six windfarm projects with a total nameplate rating of 30 MW had been awarded NFFO contracts. The bid prices for these contracts have not been made public. Table 2. UK Windfarm Developers Developer

Country of Origin (if known)

U.K. Windfarrns developed or invested in to date

National Wind Power Ltd U.K. 6 Ecogen / Trigen U.K. 3 Renewable Energy Systems Ltd U.K. 2 Yorkshire Water U.K. 3 East Midlands Electricity U.K. 1 MANWEB U.K. 2 Carter Wind Turbines U.K. 1 Powergen U.K. 2 South Western Electricity U.K. 3 Scottish Power U.K. 1 Zond UK Ltd U.S.A. 0 U.S. Windpower / Kenetech U.S.A. 0 Atlantic Energy U.K. 0 Farm Energy U.K. 0 Windcluster U.K. 1 Windelectric U.K. I New World Power Corporation U.S.A. 0 West Wind Netherlands 0 Micon Denmark 0 New Generation Projects Denmark 0 Note: In some cases more than one of the above companies have invested in the same windfarm.

49 PROJECT FINANCING A WINDFARM Most of the windfarms listed in Table 1 have been financed with a combination of equity and a project loan provided by one or more banks. This has typically meant that investors have provided between 20 and 25 per cent of the total cost of the project as equity and the balance has been provided by a bank as a "non-recourse loan". The larger developers, previously mentioned, have been able to raise equity without difficulty. National Wind Power has raised equity from its parents, National Power and Taylor Woodrow and from South Wales Electricity. National Power has provided equity for all five National Wind Power projects listed in Table 1 and is also a major investor in the Delabole windfarm (No. 1 in the Table). Other investors in UK windfarms include those listed in Table 3. Table 3

UK Windfarm Investors

Investor

Windfarms

Project No. (Table 1)

National Power PLC

Cemmaes Cold Northcott Llangwyryfon Kirkby Moor Delabole Bryn Titli

3 13 14 17 1 21

Taylor Woodrow

Cemmaes Cold Northcott Llangwyryfon Kirkby Moor

3 13 14 17

Yorkshire Water

Ovenden Chelker Royd Moor

15 4 19

East Midlands Electricity

Taft Ely

18

South Wales Electricity

Kirkby Moor

17

Yorkshire Electricity

Ovenden Moor Royd Moor

15 19

MANWEB

Carland Cross Coal Clough

2 10

SWEB

Carland Cross Coal Clough Delabole

2 10 1

PowerGen

Rhyd-y-Groes Haverigg

6 5

Scottish Power

Llandinam

11 & 12

Tomen

Llandinam Rhyd-y-Groes

11 & 12 6

Project loans have been provided by several Banks and these include those listed in Table 4.

50 Arguably the most difficult aspect of financing a windfarm is that of raising a project loan from a bank. They will need of course to see a Business Plan that has been professionally prepared. It needs to be a realistic and a factually accurate document and needs to explain in detail the rationale of the business and how its objectives will be achieved. It will cover the various stages of development including the choice of windfarm site, the agreements with the landowners, raising the equity, the bank finance required, the legal and planning requirements, the choice of the turbines, environmental and noise issues, the proposed contractors involved in construction, the costs of each stage of development, the performance of the chosen equipment, the operators of the windfarm, the warranties on equipment and who will manage the equipment and their relevant experience and insurances available. The final element of the plan, and one that the bankers will concentrate on is the financial projections and cash flow models. In assessing this Plan, the bank will put much weight on the 'quality' of the project sponsors (and/or developer). In particular, they will want to know that the project management team have the ability and skills to build the project to time and cost and to manage its operations once built. They will also look to the sponsors to share the risks with the bank and generally look for quality "blue chip ~ equity investors. After they have assessed the Business Plan they will employ external consultants (at the sponsors/developers cost) to carry out due diligence work on the wind data, the project design, the selected turbines and the participants. As negotiations advance they will employ a legal practice (at the sponsors/developers cost) to carry out due diligence on all the legal and contractual documentation. The project sponsors/developer will in turn need to employ his own legal team to prepare and negotiate the terms of these documents with the legal team acting for the Bank. It is therefore no surprise to see that so few windfarms have been developed by individuals or small companies.

Table 4. Bank • • • • •

• • • • •

Barclays Bank plc County Natwest Westpac Hambros ABN-AMRO Bayerische Vereins Bank Triodos Bank ING Bank Tokai Bank Danske Banke

Lending Banks Origin U.K.

U.K. U.K. U.K. Netherlands Germany Netherlands Netherlands Japan Denmark

ECONOMIC EVALUATION FOR THE NEXT NFFO On March 1lth, Tim Eggar, the Energy Minister announced that he had received 234 proposals for wind energy in England and Wales under the arrangements he has made for the third NFFO. These projects are likely to have a total nameplate rating in excess of 2000 MW. Non-binding bids have to be submitted by June 9th and those who are notified on September 9th that their bids have been successful will have to produce firm and binding bids (which cannot be for a lower price than that submitted in June) by September 30th 1994. He has also said that he expects to award contracts for approximately twenty windfarms. This will almost certainly make the bidding very competitive and developers/sponsors will need to do all the obvious things to ensure their bids are as low as possible. These will include the need for:-

51 a competent assessment of the wind resource and windfarm output a cost effective and economic windfarm design

accurate forecasts of wind turbine and electricallosses knowledge of the rates of remm required by investors and banks, taking all risks into account detailed assessment of the most cost effective financing strategy. The 15 year term of the NFFO contract compared with the December 1998 deadline for 1990 and 1991 contracts (which means that windfarms built with the benefit of such contracts will need to pay off bank loans in 6 to 7 years depending on the date they were commissioned), will mean that the bidding price will be considerably less than the lip/kWh paid for 1991 NFFO contracts. There is also a greater need for 'accuracy' in the NFFO 3 bidding process because winning bidders will only get their bid price (whereas they received the so called 'strike' price in the 1991 NFFO). The cost of generating electricity from a windfarm is dominated by the initial turnkey capital cost of the windfarm and by the terms governing the repayment of capital. The cost of the turbines represents about 60-70 per cent of the total turnkey cost, though the exact percentage will depend on the site and other factors. Other costs involved include,

(a) Co) (c) (d)

'balance of plant' costs (which include roads, foundations, electrical work and grid connection) development costs (including meteorological work, legal, planning and environmental work) interest charges during construction financing costs

After commissioning the windfarm, the operational costs include, (a) (b) (c) (d)

maintenance and repair land lease costs, rates, taxes and insurances ongoing management costs provision for decommissioning.

These operational costs are modest compared with the interest and principal repayments payable on the capital employed. Table 5 illustrates the effect of these parameters on the cost of producing electricity from a notional windfarm of say 10 MW capacity on a 7.5 m/s site in the U.K., producing 3000 MWh per MW of capacity. The top section of the table shows a range of initial costs per kW of capacity. The middle section shows typical running costs per kWh produced. The bottom section adds in the effect of interest and capital repayment for different borrowing scenarios (note: the 9, 10, 11 and 13% figures are the pre-tax real rates of return on the project). It may be seen that the final cost per unit generated is dominated by the cost of capital. It is clear (and obvious) that long-term loans and low interest rates make a very big difference to the cost of generation. The left-hand column of Table 5 depicts the recent past as far as capital costs are concerned. If the farm had been paid for with a six year loan at 13 per cent (pre-tax project real rate of return), corresponding to the italic figure, the capital charges alone would be over 10p per unit of electricity produced, bringing the total generating cost to 12.2p/unit, far in excess of current electricity prices. It is interesting to note here that the windfarms built or under construction in the UK are being built with approximately six year loans because the power supply contracts that each project has been awarded expire at the end of December 1998. This explains why windfarms in the U,K. receive 1lp/kWh (index-linked to inflation) until 31st December 1998. They need this tariff in order to repay the loans so quickly.

52 If one now contemplates turbine and construction costs as they may be expected to fall throughout the rest of this decade, and one assumes that turbines become more reliable so that operations and maintenance costs fall as a result of experience, then one may construct the final two columns as representative of steps in the process. It is then necessary to consider the point in the evolution of the technology when banks and other investors are prepared to provide longer-term loans and accept rates of return compatible with other low-risk energy projects. Table 5 assumes that the turnkey capital costs fall to £600/kW; if finance can then be arranged with a 20 year loan and with a pre-tax return of 10 per cent on the project, then generation costs fall to 3.9p/kWh. These are realistic goals for an industry still in its infancy. 'conventional' electricity generating costs rise to,

(a) Co) (c)

They will be assisted in so far as

pay for tighter environmental constraints on conventional plant, recognize the 'social' costs and hidden subsidies for conventional electricity generation, reflect carbon taxes in one form or another to encourage a switch to 'clean' energy sources so that Europe may meet its commitments made at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

Clearly, a reduction in real interest rates paid for capital also has a very beneficial effect. The conclusion is therefore that if windfarms can be financed on the same terms applicable to conventional power plant (i.e. loans repayable over 15, 20 or more years) they will be able to compete with 'clean' coal as well as with nuclear electricity generation. There is therefore a high level of confidence that the U.K. Government's objective of supporting the market until wind generated electricity prices converge with those of conventionally generated electricity will be achieved. Table 5. Windfarm generation costs Initial costs: £/kW Turnkey construction Interest during construction Prospecting,fees, etc.

1100 55 100

1000 50 90

800 40 80

600 30 70

1255

1140

920

700

Running costs: p/kWh O & M Rent, insurance, grid, fees, etc.

0.8 0.9

0.7 0.8

0.6 0.7

0.5 0.6

Total generation cost: p/kWh 25 years at 9% 20 years at 10% 10 years at 11% 6 years at 13%

5.9 6.7 8.8 12.2

5.3 6.1 8.0 11.0

4.4 5.0 6.5 9.0

3.4 3.9 5.1 6.9

OPERATIONAL DATA The first thing to note is the speed with which windfarms have been constructed and brought into operation. The time taken from commencing work on site to commissioning the windfarms has been

53 in the range 5 to 9 months. Figure 1 shows the rapid growth of instatled capacity in the period December 1990 to June 1994. Most of this growth has taken place in a two year period with capacity rising from 2 or 3 MW to (now) about 140 MW. These windfarms are achieving mean quarterly load factors, generally in the range 0.17 to 0.34 with an 'average' of about 0.26. The data shown in Figure 2 is for the 18 windfarms where at least two quarters of data were available in year ending 1993. The Bryn Titli, Royd Moor and St Breock windfarms do not therefore appear in this figure. In each case the first quarter's data was ignored (given that this period is often used for commissioning and and acceptance tests). Each bar represents a particular windfarm and can thus represent the average of quarterly data over 1 to 8 quarters depending upon when the windfarm became operational. Most of these windfarms have been consistently achieving availabiLities in the range 95 to 99 per cent.

Figure 3 gives the cumulative quarterly energy output from NFFO i and 2 wind projects. As of quarter ending December 31st, 1993, they had generated a total of 240 GWh. The estimated outputs for quarters ending 31 March 1994 and 30 June 1994 are 300 and 360 GWh respectively. The total estimated annual output of all 22 windfarms listed in Table 1 is 360 GWh and this will be sufficient to provide the electricity needs of about 75,000 homes or about 250,000 individuals. 150

17..5

F

!

/

I00

| _J

J 0 014,,1-90

01-Jul-91

31-De¢-90

] I -Dec-91

01 -Jul-92

31-Dec-92

02-Jul.93

CONYI~L'~['ED DATI[

Fig. i.

) I -Dec-g)

02-Jul-94

O ETSU 1994

NFg~ i & 2 Wind Projects - Growth of Installed Capacity

1

0 0.10 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.18 0.19 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.23 O.24 ~

QOAJII"I~YLOADlrACTOm

l~tadm I-, Quaint ~ O t m m m

O,J ~

0,.28 ~

0.30 0.31 0.32 0.33 O.34

o m ' s u s914

lined m dammemi 19~

Fig. 2.

NFF0 1 & 2 W

~

- Mean ~sart~rl~ Load Factors

54 m

.i

l )oo.oo

1lie

lOUO Io.0o 0.85

1.11

1.W/

1.110

2-82

8,08

II W

14

31DeeJo

31~ 91

30J~. 91

30, 8It511

31Dee. 91

31tier9'1

30Ira~

308ep. Yl

' "

o.w 31Dee. 15

31Jam,. 93

30Jim15

30.. ~ t3

qu,tmrm gmmm

Fi~.3

31Dee. 91

31~ 114

30Ira. J4

O rlgP3 f i t 4

NFFO l & 2 Wind Projects - Cumu/ative quarterly Energy Output

As a particular example of the performance of an individual windfarm output and availability statistics for one of National Wind Power's windfarms are given in Table 6. This project comprises twelve 34 metre diameter turbines each rated at 400 kW and in a full year is expected to generate 16 million kWhrs or 1,468 kWh/m2 of rotor swept area each year. The output figures in the table show that the best monthly output so far was in March and this was equal to an average output of 203 kWh/m2 of rotor swept area in that month. In the six months of operation covered in the table the total generation of 10,032,000 kWh is equal to an output of 921 kWh/m: of rotor swept area. Table 6.

Performance Data for a National Wind Power Windfarrn.

Actual Achieved Period

Budget Output (MWh)

Output (MWh)

December 1993 January 1994 February 1994 March 1994 April 1994 May 1994

1,565 1,645 1,470 1,438 942 1,118

1,825 1,862 1,541 2,214 1,319 1,271

Total

8,178

10,032

Availabilty %

Monthly load Factor

98.4 99.8 99.8 100.0 99.1 99.7

51% 52% 48% 62% 38% 36%

PLANNING EXPERIENCES The planning application success rate has been well in excess of 50 per cent and very much higher than the 15 per cent assumed in the REAG report. Thirteen Public Inquiries have been held as detailed in Table 7. Of these, eight have resulted in planning permission being obtained. The principal issues giving rise to the public inquiries were those concerned with visual intrusion (and sometimes visibility from adjacent National Parks), construction on a SSSI or Green Belt site and noise. Other issues raised

55 at these inquiries have included possible impact on nesting or migratory birds, electromagnetic interference, impact on hydrology, safety, archeological impacts, road access and tourism. The issue in February 1993 of Planning Guidance Note 22 noting the UK Government's adoption of various EC Regulations on the exploitation of renewables and giving guidelines for windfarm proposals taken together with the inspectors reports from the Public Inquiries has meant that most issues have now been thoroughly dealt with. As a result, Planning Authorities now have a very large body of evidence to assist them with dealing with applications. Visual intrusion is very subjective and Inspectors at Public Inquiries have generally held the view that wind turbines are elegant structures. They have generally rejected the view that windfanns should not be built if they can be seen at a distance from a National Park and have allowed both the Cemmaes and Kirkby Moor windfarms (which can be seen on clear days from Snowdonia and Lake District National Parks respectively). They have rejected the idea that windfarms should not be built on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (I~rkby Moor is built on an SSSI), or on Green Belt (Ovenden Moor Windfarm is on land designated as Green Belt). As Planners and Developers have gained experience, the planning conditions are increasingly including a noise constraint which stipulates that the windfarm should not cause a noise level of more than a certain amount at some distance (typically 400 metres or the nearest residence) from the windfarm. The Department of Trade and Industry has now established an Advisory Committee comprising Environmental Health Officers, Developers, Consultants and others to make recommendations on turbine noise emissions that can be used for planning future windfarms. Statutory authorities have acknowledged the need to publish their own policies with respect to windfarm development. The most important of these are those published by the Countryside Council for Wales (1992) and English Nature (1994). Friends of the Earth have also issued their own guidelines for project developers and local planners (1994) at the same time re-aff'mning their support for wind power development carried out in a responsible way.

National Wind Power's 9.9 HI/ Windfarmat Bryn Titli

56 Table 7.

Windfarm Public Inquiries

19 September 1 9 9 1

Secretary of State grants planning permission for windfarm at Cemmaes

Site at Mynydd-y-Cemmaes, Powys, near Snowdonia National Park

March 1992

Secretary of State grants planning permission for Kirkby Moor windfarm

Site in Cumbria - AGLV, near National Park, SSSI

June 1992

Secretary of State refuses planning permission for windfarm at Way Barton

Site in Devon - refused on noise and visual dominance grounds

July 1992

Secretary of State grants planning permission for windfarm at Ovenden Moor

Site in Yorkshire - SLA and Green Belt

October 1992

Secretary of State refuses planning permission for windfarm at Fullabrook Barton

Site in Devon - refused on noise and visual dominance grounds

April 1993

Planning permission for windfarrn at Penrhys granted

By Inspector on appeal

July 1993

Secretary of State grants planning permission for windfarm at Caton Moor

First site without NFFO contract

August 1993

Planning permission for windfarm at Four Burrows, Cornwall, granted

By Inspector on appeal

September 1993

Planning permission for windfarm at St Breock, Cornwall, granted

By Inspector on appeal

November 1993

Planning permission refused for windfarm at Parys Mountain, Anglesey

By Inspector on appeal

January 1994

Planning permission for windfarm at Trysglwyn Fawr, Rhosybol, Amlweh, Anglesey

By Inspector on appeal

March 1994

Planning permission for windfarm at Chichester refused

By inspector on appeal

May 1994

Decision awaited for re-submission for windfarm at Fullabrook Barton

Permission refused at first Inquiry Re-submitted.

PUBLIC OPINION The Wind Energy Industry has long recognised the importance of maintaining public support and has made considerable efforts to gauge public reaction before and after a windfarm is built so as to ensure each project has the support of the local and wider community. Public Opinion Surveys have been carded out at Kirkby Moor, Taft Ely, Bryn Titli, Delabole, Cemmaes, Coal Clough, Llandinam, Llangwyryfon and Rhyd-y-Groes windfarms. They reveal that between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of those surveyed (depending on the particular 'windfarm' surveyed) support the windfarm in their community and furthermore would support the construction of other windfarms in their area.

57 A National Windfarm Open Day organised by the BWEA in March 1994 saw over 3000 people visiting seven windfarms in England and Wales. Visitors were given questionnaires and 970 were returned and analyzed. These showed that an overwhelming 92 per cent of visitors said they approved of windfarms after their visit when only 80 per cent were in favour prior to their visit. As further developments take place it will be important to maintain this support by establishing codes of practice for the industry which take account of the concerns of the local community and the public at large. The BWEA is now taking the lead on behalf of the Industry in establishing such codes of practice. CONCLUSIONS The development of the windfarms in the U.K. has taken place at a faster rate than any other country in Europe though the U.K. installed capacity represents only 10 per cent of total European installed capacity. The performance of the industry has demonstrated its ability to deliver projects on time and to budget. The 234 projects registered in the third English and Welsh NFFO tranche and the 70 or so registered in the Scottish tranche are estimated to have a total capacity exceeding 2000 MW (860 MW Declared Net Capacity) and serve to demonstrate the relative ease with which the Government's target of 1500 MW (Declared Net Capacity) for all renewables could be met by the year 2000. Meeting this target will need a commitment by Government to support the development of wind energy in the 1994 NFFO tranche and the 1996 and 1998 NFFO tranches that have already been announced. One of the upsides to the UK's slow development of windfarms has been the ability to deploy the latest technology. This has resulted in a smaller number (about 400 so far) of turbines of a larger size (an average rating of 350 kW) than those generally used in developments, for example, in the U.S.A. These modern turbines are demonstrating the ability to achieve availabilities of 95 to 99 per cent and outputs in excess of 1200 kWh/m 2 of rotor swept area per annum. The credibility of the technology has also importantly attracted project loans from major 'blue chip' companies. Both capital costs and operations and maintenance costs have also fallen and this will help developers to bid even more competitively in the current NFFO round. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To Dr Ian Page of the Energy Technology Support Unit, Harwell, for providing Figures 1, 2 and 3.

REFERENCES Renewable Energy Advisory Group: Report to the President of the Board of Trade, Energy Paper No.60. HMSO, London 1992. An Assessment of Renewable Energy for the U.K. HMSO Publication R82, ISBN 0 11 515 348 9, 1994. Planning Policy Guidance Note 22 : Renewable Energy. HMSO, February 1993. Wind Turbine Power Stations, published by Countryside Council for Wales, ISBN 0 901087 30 0, 1992. Nature Conservation guidelines for Renewable Energy Projects, Published by English Nature, ISBN 1 85716 136X, May 1994. Planning for Wind Power' published by Friends of the Earth, ISBN 1 85750 228 0, June 1994.