News > UK wind power comes at a price "There's many a slip
'tween cups and lip" the old saying goes. It is a saying that is
now being applied to the most modern of technologies. The slip
is being felt by the UK government as the real price of building
and running the country's wind farms is becoming clearer.
Britain is now by far the world's biggest producer of off-shore
wind power with almost 1000 wind turbines already in operation,
but becoming so has been more expensive than originally planned.
A report by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), found that
costs have risen for all kinds of power generation but the costs
for off shore wind farms are still by far the highest. The
figures show wind power to be 90% more than fossil fuel
generators and 50% more than nuclear power. The costs of
building the farms have doubled due to spiralling prices for
steel and the drop in the value of the pound. Add the fact that
general running costs are also increasing, and it becomes an
expensive affair. "Yes it is more ex