Breaking news to all those wind critics and NIMBYs – we can expand our wind power vastly in the UK without any power cuts, overloads or a strain on the national grid.

The BBC has broken news today of a report that suggests a huge increase of wind power by 2030, rather than having a negative impact, would be a beneficial thing for the energy industry and UK economy.

Of course, this is something Good Energy has known all along, but it is great to see an independent report making the headlines. The research was carried out by Poyry, an energy consultant working on behalf of the National Grid and Centrica.

The report reviewed over 2.5 million hourly weather reports on wind speeds around the British Isles, and concluded that wind could provide a huge portion of our energy mix, reliably and safely. It works on a simple basis – if the wind is merely a gently breeze in Aberdeen, it will be blowing gales in Cornwall. If our network of generators is designed well, there will always be plenty of power coming from somewhere.

According to Poyry, the price of electricity will depend not on consumer demand or fossil fuel imports, but on how hard the wind is blowing. When the wind is blowing at full speed, the report says, wind electricity from wind will be so cheap it will out compete fossil fuels and nuclear as the cheapest energy.

On the rare occasions the wind dies nationwide, backup generators will be available to power up for short periods of time. But this doesn’t equate to huge investments or an overhaul of the current grid, says Dr Phil Hare who led the research.
The report opens up an answer to the next logical question, can the UK be powered by 100% renewables?

"Some people were worried that the complexity stemming from intermittent wind with an overlay of tidal power peaking twice a day might simply have been too much change for the grid to bear. But our research shows the grid can cope."
As our CEO Juliet said this morning, “If the national grid can cope with Andy Murray playing at Wimbledon then it can definitely cope with wind power!”

If you read the BBC article it rounds off with a warning that all this will come at a high cost, as building renewables is expensive. But this depends on perspective. Are we talking energy prices (fossil fuel prices) today or tomorrow? Can we rely on a steady supply of fossil fuels from politically volatile places? We’ll have no control over the cost of coal in 2030. Freeing ourselves from this tie and moving to a low carbon energy grid is surely a sensible investment?

The price benefit of renewables is not as simple as looking at how much a turbine and some cabling cost. In April this year the Renewable Energy Association (REA) put forward a persuasive argument about the financial benefits of investing in renewables – some £12 billion a year. The job creation and industry boost alone should justify the costs.

We must also remember that the UK’s wind industry can play a large part in the global fight against climate change. It is commonly accepted that the cost of investing to prevent climate change is around 2% of GDP, as put forward by the Stern Report, against the costs of dealing with the effects, over 20% of GDP.

So we can spend more on a low carbon technology like wind, boost our economy and help avert global crisis and the need to spend billions on clear up projects. Or, we can scrimp now by investing in carbon dioxide churning coal power, supporting who knows what and increasing the chances of making the earth so hot we’ll need to spend all our money on making it habitable.

Surely it’s a no brainer?

At Good Energy it is this that makes us do what we do. If you ever needed a good reason to switch to renewables surely the above is it. Switching to Good Energy means more than just changing your electricity company. You will be supporting a growing team of independent renewable energy generators ready to take on the new era of the industry and de-carbonise the national grid. Switching to Good Energy helps a growing green industry that will be fundamental in the future of the earth.

And best of all, we are a bloody nice bunch!