Wind industry dismisses Green Party objection to onshore pylons

Is the Green Party Leadership being practical?

The wind industry has rejected calls from the Co-Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Adrian Ramsay MP, for a ‘pause’ in constructing pylons across East Anglia. These are the power lines that are planned by the Government to connect power from offshore windfarms to consumers. Indeed, today in the Commons, Energy Secretary of State Ed Miliband attacked Green Party opposition to infrastructure needed to bring power from offshore wind turbines onshore.

Peter McCrory, RenewableUK’s Policy Manager for Networks & Charging, told me that:

'The idea that we're not putting a huge amount of electricity infrastructure offshore is incorrect. We are putting huge amounts offshore, including the transmission lines to take power from Scotland to England.

'Adrian Ramsay is calling for a review. But there have been reviews already. The offshore transmission capital costs are more than double than what the onshore line will cost - and even in the case of the onshore line proposal there is also offshore transmission infrastructure.

'There's no solution where there will be no onshore infrastructure for offshore wind. We really need to balance the cost to consumers,  benefits to the network and the impact on communities. 

‘National Grid ESO has already carried out a detailed study of the options in the East Anglia area, so a new review isn't needed.’

Not only will the extra offshore transmission system cost more than the onshore option but the offshore system will take rather longer to put in place. According to the analysis conducted for the National Grid Electricity Supply Operator (NGESO) it will also take at least until 2034 (see HERE). This is compared to the (Government) preferred onshore line option which should be ready by 2030. We have a climate emergency, and the logic of the wind industry is to want the quicker solution so that more power from offshore wind can be sent to the grid earlier.

My own feeling is that we need to back the onshore pylon proposal and put it in place as soon as possible. Yes, I would have preferred, if, several years ago, there had been sufficient advance planning to allow for (even) more of the transmission to be done offshore now. Indeed, in the future, we should go for as much transmission wiring as possible for the offshore wind programme to be placed offshore.

However, we are where we are. The proposal that is ready to go is the onshore pylon scheme. Demands for a ‘pause’ in construction whilst a(nother) review is done seem oddly in contrast to the Green Party’s call to attend to a climate emergency.

I can see that Adrian Ramsay’s political position is difficult. There is much local opposition to the pylon proposal in and around his constituency in Waveney Valley. But the fact that he is Co-Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) adds a new level of political difficulty for the Green Party. That is because this policy position looks like (and appears indeed to be) the official GPEW policy. I think that is a terrible look and I feel it necessary to call the GPEW out for taking a wrong turn on what should be a central plank of their green energy policy.

There’s no ‘pause’ button in the climate emergency!

It really is a terrible shame that the first widely-publicised action of the much expanded Green Party contingent in the House of Commons is to try to delay infrastructure proposed for offshore windpower. Not very practical at all! After the post- General Election celebrations comes a hangover……..

Declaration of Interest: I am an academic member of RenewableUK, although I have no financial interest in any wind energy companies or projects. My only non-domestic energy investment is a small shareholding in the Big Solar Coop