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Supporters charitably call the target “ambitious”. Detractors deride it as “unachievable”, or worse, a “total scam”. On the cusp of the largest energy infrastructure investment in the country’s history, difficult questions are being asked of wind power.

Tony Lodge, a researcher at the Centre for Policy Studies, argues that wind is not the solution to Britain’s dual goals of reducing carbon emissions and replacing the 32GW of old power stations to be retired over the next decade. The subsidies required to fund development alone “will plunge thousands of households into fuel poverty. It’s a total scam,” he said. “Britain is on the precipice of a big problem.”

Golby said that meeting the renewable-energy targets will push up household bills by about £400 a year.

Aside from the cost, Lodge argues that the intermittent nature of wind means that it should remain at best a marginal power source, not the linchpin of Britain’s energy strategy.

There is nothing new in these arguments. Sceptics will never accept that the nation should be dependent on something over which we have no control — when, and how strongly, the wind blows. Yet after decades of technological advancement and research, Maria McCaffery, chief executive of the British Wind Energy Association, said that “we have dispelled the myths, we have answered the big questions”.

Indeed, the consensus in the energy industry is that the urgent need to address a looming energy gap, and pollute less while doing so, makes wind the best option.

“You can say, ‘Let’s take a carbon holiday until things like clean coal and carbon capture are ready’. But those are a decade or two away. If you believe the Stern report [on climate change], you can’t do that,” said Sarwjit Sambhi, head of power at Centrica. “Offshore wind is the best available technology, whether you like it or not.”

The problem lies in making the grand vision a reality. McCaffery calls the coming wind revolution the “biggest job-creation event since North Sea oil”, estimating that it will lead to 160,000 new jobs.

AN unassuming factory on the Isle of Wight represents about half of Britain’s wind-energy expertise. The site is where employees of Vestas, the world’s largest wind-turbine manufacturer, make giant turbine blades. Its other operation is a tower facility in Campbeltown, Scotland. That’s 1,100 workers in all.

Peter Brun, head of government relations at Vestas, said Britain has “immense promise” because it must meet the target, set by the European Union, of generating 15% of its power from renewable sources by 2020 — a four-fold increase on the present level. Even so, the company has no plans to increase its presence here.

“We set up in 2002, but we were too optimistic. There is great potential here, but speaking is one thing, and following through with practical implementation is another. That’s what we are waiting for. There are still big barriers, like access to the electricity grid and planning procedures.”

Closing the gap between the ambition of policy and the planning process is critical. According to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), of the 15 gigawatts worth of wind projects that have been put through the planning process since 2002, the fate of 6.5GW of projects has yet to be determined. Some have been in planning for five years. The MoD alone is responsible for holding up 10 projects because of concerns over radar interference. However, a recent memorandum of understanding that it signed with industry could help to break the impasse.

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