Britain's biggest developer of offshore wind farms has hired Rothschild to sell stakes in its projects because it cannot afford to build them. The move by Dong Energy, the Danish power giant, casts fresh doubt on the government's carbon-reduction plans just six months after it ramped up subsidies to keep the offshore wind sector afloat. ..."The issue is that these projects require enormous amounts of capital and it's getting very difficult to justify," said an industry source. "The enthusiasm there once was has diminished."

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced proposals yesterday for RBS and Lloyds to boost lending to stricken wind-farm developers, which have been hit hard by the credit crunch ...A spokeswoman for RBS said that nothing had been signed and that it would be "at least two months" before a final decision was taken on whether to proceed with the scheme.

The wind industry has accused the government of "sabotage" over a proposed fourfold tax increase that could lead to the scrapping of up to half Britain's 150 onshore projects. The hike has infuriated energy groups, which are warning of a wholesale retreat from the struggling sector just weeks after the government unveiled a package of aid measures designed to support it.

Energy companies have warned the government that unless they get £2 billion in "immediate" state aid several offshore wind farms will be scrapped - and this would leave Whitehall's pollution-reduction targets in tatters. Companies have put off giving the green light to several big projects, such as the £3 billion London Array in the Thames estuary and Npower's £2.2 billion Gwint y Mor farm off the coast of Wales, until the government decides whether it will stump up more cash to offset building costs that have doubled in the past three years.

According to the Financial Times, E.ON UK, the British arm of the German energy group, said the viability of its London Array project, a planned 1000 MW wind farm in the Thames estuary, had been called into question by the falling prices of oil, gas and carbon dioxide emissions permits. ...Centrica, the owner of British Gas, estimates that each megawatt of wind power capacity costs about £3m to build: more than the equivalent cost for a nuclear power station.

Hundreds of thousands of consumers are being misled by the green tariffs offered by power companies to boost renewable energy, says a report due out this week. The tariffs do virtually nothing to promote new renewable supplies and can be costly and confusing, according to the Carbon Accountability Programme, set up by environmentalists in Edinburgh. It accuses the six leading power companies of using "greenwash" to make their products seem more attractive.

The Westminster government has been accused of putting the development of green energy at risk, by shelving plans to subsidise projects in the Scottish islands. It means companies setting up renewable energy schemes in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles face paying up to 40 per cent of their annual turnover on crippling transmission charges. The government had planned to bring in a "cap" on the charges to make sure the renewables industry was not put off from developing in these key locations.

The wind energy industry needs to invest up to €6bn over the next decade for the Government to reach its target of generating a third of the country's power from renewable sources, according to head of the wind energy lobby group. Speaking at yesterday's launch of the Irish Wind Energy Association's (IWEA) guidelines on best practice for on-shore wind projects in Ireland, the body's chief executive Michael Walsh said: "With over 1,000 megawatts of wind power already connected on the island of Ireland, the wind energy has already invested over €1bn in generation capacity."

THE energy company behind a controversial, multi-million pound wind farm proposal has denied it would pull the plug on the plans if it missed a Government subsidy deadline. Airtricity has claimed the Bagot's Park site, near Abbots Bromley, would still be an economically viable project even if subsidies are cut for onshore wind farms built after 2010. Project manager Alex Fornall said the site "ticks all the right boxes" for a successful renewable energy scheme. ...Councillor Fox said: "If they are claiming Bagot's Park Wind Farm is viable without subsidy, then it is reasonable to conclude any subsidy paid out will just increase their profit margin."

Ireland on Friday announced a government-backed guaranteed price for offshore wind power in a bid to boost the development of renewable energy. Under the government's feed-in tariff scheme, offshore wind power that is produced will get a support price of 1403 euros ($202.9) per megawatt hour. The move follows a similar initiative for onshore wind farm generation. Ireland's energy minister Eamon Ryan said the support price was "in line with what other countries are offering". "Now, investors can be confident when they invest in offshore wind," Ryan said in a statement. "Without it (a support price) we would not be able to attract any investment into Ireland."

Scottish and Southern Energy has acquired Ireland's leading renewable energy giant Airtricity in a deal worth E1.46 billion. While the buyout deal is the latest in a string of 'green' corporate investments, the financial viability of the acquisition is yet to be tested, and alternative renewable resources and underlying uncertainties in the UK's energy markets could threaten wind power strategies. ...However, the financial implications of wind power expansion plans are not yet clear. The landscape of the European energy markets is changing rapidly and it is possible that wind power could be replaced by competing technologies and fuels. An obvious threat to wind power investments will be the decision on new nuclear plant builds. Wind power could also be undermined by extensive investments in alternative renewable energy sources. Furthermore, while the price and allocation of carbon permits under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is a major driver behind wind power investments, if prices were to collapse as they did in 2007, this could spell trouble for investors and shareholders alike.

Household electricity bills are being used to subsidise massive profits for wind turbine companies. The Government has overseen a scheme which sees almost £10-a-year added to every consumer's bill to help promote renewable energy - but despite this few companies have built new wind farms and many households are still getting their power from coal burning generators. Northumberland wind farm campaigners last night said the expensive subsidies for energy companies were the real reason behind the dozens of turbines planned for the North-East. More than £580m-a-year is paid out at present and this is set to rise to more than £1.3bn by 2010 as household bills rise.

The large subsidies paid by British electricity consumers to fund the drive towards wind power are generating sizeable profits for existing wind farm owners without producing many new turbines. The UK needs a massive expansion of wind energy to meet government climate change targets, and the amount of subsidy paid to renewable electricity generators through consumers' electricity bills will rise from more than £600m ($1.2bn, €800m) a year to £3bn a year by 2020. But the format of the subsidy system, known as the renewables obligation (RO), combined with bottlenecks in the planning system, mean these cash injections are simply enriching the operators of existing wind farms well beyond their expectations. "The RO is a very expensive way of providing support for renewables," said Andrew Wright, managing director of markets at Ofgem, the electricity regulator.

The large subsidies paid by electricity users to fund the drive towards wind power are generating profits for existing wind farm owners - without producing many new turbines. A huge expansion of wind energy is needed to meet the government's climate change targets, and the amount of subsidy paid to renewable power generators through consumers' electricity bills will rise from more than £600m a year to £3bn a year by 2020. Most customers are unaware of this, as it does not appear on bills. But the format of the subsidy system, known as the renewables obligation (RO), combined with bottlenecks in the planning system, mean these cash injections are enriching the operators of existing wind farms well beyond their expectations. The proportion of electricity coming from renewable sources has scarcely budged in recent years - it rose from 4.2 per cent in 2005 to 4.6 per cent in 2006, the latest year for which government figures are available ...

Lavish subsidies and high electricity prices have turned Britain's onshore wind farms into an extraordinary moneyspinner, with a single turbine capable of generating £500,000 of pure profit per year. According to new industry figures, a typical 2 megawatt (2MW) turbine can now generate power worth £200,000 on the wholesale markets - plus another £300,000 of subsidy from taxpayers. Since such turbines cost around £2m to build and last for 20 or more years, it means they can pay for themselves in just 4-5 years and then produce nothing but profit. The lucrative outlook has led to a surge in planning applications for new windfarms.

Paterson said although alternative energies would undoubtedly become very important in years to come, there was "little clarity" in the sector at the moment. Many fundamental questions remain about how to best capture and transmit energy from natural sources, making it difficult to assess the potential effectiveness of new innovations. However, Paterson said the biggest barrier was the fact that the sector is heavily regulated and influenced by government. Much of the current interest in alternative energies is being driven by strong support from Europe, the UK and the Scottish Government. "But from an investor's point of view, we have got to think about the long term," Paterson said. "What happens if the government changes, or priorities shift?"

Suppliers of mini-wind turbines and solar panels for the home have reported falls of up to 90 per cent in customer enquiries after the Government cut subsidies in May. While Energy minister Malcolm Wicks and Conservative leader David Cameron struggle with the vagaries of the UK's planning system (see below) to get their wind turbines erected, fewer ordinary households are now even bothering to apply.

The cost of connecting green energy schemes in the Scottish islands to the National Grid is untenably high and should be cut, according to a new report. Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are seen as having huge potential for renewables, but regulations form a barrier to unlocking the resources. The report was drawn up by Xero Energy (XE) for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the three island councils, which are all promoting renewable-energy projects. It suggests charges are against EU rules on grid connections and could be challenged through legal action.

Farmers and landowners should be aware that changes in the way green electricity will be funded mean there is currently strong demand for wind farm sites. The current system, that beefs up the income from onshore wind farm sites by up to 50%, is due to be changed in 2010 or soon after to favour offshore wind farms as they are considered more acceptable to the public rather than on shore ones. "Wind farm companies are going hell for leather to find onshore sites and agree terms with landowners during 2007," notes head of Fisher German's renewables team Mark Newton. "It's a lengthy planning process to get a site approved which normally takes three to five years, and they need to get a project agreed and built before the system changes. Otherwise the site will not be as profitable for the landowner and the wind farm company."

Green energy tariffs that promise customers environmentally friendly electricity supplies face official scrutiny amid concerns that customers are not getting what they pay for. Ofgem will today outline plans to create a ratings scheme to highlight the most planet-friendly packages. The regulator is working with the Energy Saving Trust to determine a set of criteria under which the best schemes will be awarded five stars.