The go ahead for one of the UK's largest offshore wind farms to date will be announced by the Prime Minister today, in a speech to business leaders. The 500MW West of Duddon Sands wind farm is planned near Walney Island off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria and will comprise of up to 139 turbines. ...The Energy Secretary John Hutton has also approved an updated application from Ormonde Energy Limited to build a 150MW wind farm comprising of up to 30 turbines, which will also be sited near to Walney Island.

Wind energy is so unreliable that even if 13,000 turbines are built to meet EU renewable energy targets, they could be relied on to provide only seven percent of the country's peak winter electricity demand, according to a leading power company E.On. E.On has argued that so little wind blows during the coldest days of winter that 92 percent of installed wind capacity would have to be backed up by traditional power stations.

In two years' time, the UK seems certain to miss one of the core environmental targets of the Blair-Brown years. The Government pledged that 10 per cent of the country's electricity would be generated from renewable sources, principally from wind farms, but also including tidal and solar power. Press releases from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Berr) still boast of the target, which was first promised in 2000 and enshrined three years later in the energy White Paper. ...But the energy industry does not agree. Senior figures point out that less than 5 per cent of electricity was generated from renewable sources in 2007, up from just over 4 per cent the previous year.

A leading power company has claimed wind energy is so unreliable that even if 13,000 turbines are built to meet EU renewable energy targets, they could be relied on to provide only 7 per cent of the country's peak winter electricity demand. E.On has argued that, during the coldest days of winter, so little wind blows that 92 per cent of installed wind capacity would have to be backed up by traditional power stations. It argues this would require new coal-fired power stations to be built so they could be used in an emergency when little wind blows. ...A spokesman said the question had to be asked how power companies would make money from plants that only run when the wind is not blowing.

For Enterprise Minister Jim Mather and the Scottish Government, events of the past week have left a big hole in plans to turn the country into a global leader in the renewable energy industry. On Friday Mather flew to Kintyre hoping to rescue Scotland's only wind tower factory near Campbeltown following a decision by Danish firm Vestas to halt production at the plant. ...Mather's trip to Campbeltown came on the day he was forced to react to a Westminster decision to shelve a planned subsidy for renewable energy schemes in Orkney and Shetland. The UK Government is no longer willing to cap transmission charges, a move Mather described as "deeply, deeply disappointing". Jason Ormiston, chief executive of trade body Scottish Renewables, warned that transmission charges can be a major component in the cost of running a wind farm and could affect the viability of projects.

Senior figures from wind energy firms have been working at the heart of Government, advising ministers on the potential health impacts of turbines, the WMN has learned. The Government was last night accused of "doing unprecedented and highly questionable favours" for the wind industry amid growing concern about the "clear conflict of interest". ...Questions have also been raised about a move to limit the power for people living near new wind farms to sue operators for negative health impacts caused by noise.

The Ministry of Defence has finally withdrawn its objections to two major wind farms following the intervention of Gordon Brown. For years the MoD has fought the creation of two large wind farms off the coast of Northumberland and Norfolk because of fears of radar interference. It emerged last year that nearly half of all proposed wind farms were stuck in the planning process because of objections from the MoD, which has many RAF bases on the east coast of Britain. This meant that the Government had no chance of achieving its target of producing 20% of the country's total energy from renewable resources by 2020.

"Despite important announcements on new wind and biomass capacity in recent weeks, it is still not clear if Scotland will meet its target for 50% electricity consumed coming from renewable sources by 2020 and if we do hit the target, we need to know what this will mean in terms of costs. "The growth of renewables brings huge opportunities for Scotland, but there are massive barriers ...Equally, there are questions that need answered about the cost and reliability of wind power and the likely contribution from wave and tidal power before 2020."

Last month, ministers launched a renewables strategy on how to meet the UK's share of the EU 2020 target, which requires Britain to generate 15% of its energy from clean sources. The strategy included steps on "removing grid access as a barrier to renewables deployment". ...But the strategy also noted that the draft EU directive obliged member states to give priority grid access to renewables, and said the government was working to "clarify this obligation". At a meeting of the EU energy working group this week, leaked documents show British officials tabled several amendments to the draft directive, including changing "member states shall also provide priority access to the grid ..." to "member states may also provide access ...".

As the wind industry meets for a major conference in Wales today, a new report was published this week claiming that wind power faces "hidden costs" and "reliability issues". ...The Renewable Energy Foundation said the new study "confirms doubts as to the wisdom of a large wind fleet", and "supports REF's long-standing recommendation that the contribution of wind should be limited for technical and economic reasons, to about 10 GW, mostly offshore where winds are stronger and more reliable". Mr Oswald said: "Wind energy is fine on a small scale, but it works less well on a large scale because British weather and wind is too variable.

Wind power would be too unreliable to meet Britain's electricity needs, according to a new report. It says wind patterns around the country mean turbines will fail to produce enough power at times of high demand. Written by an independent consultancy and funded by the Renewable Energy Foundation, the report says backup electricity plants will be needed to meet demand during calm conditions. It comes after the Government last week unveiled a £100million plan to build at least 4,000 wind turbines, with a further 3,000 offshore. The programme is expected to drive household bills up by £260 a year.

More families will be driven into fuel poverty as a push to generate more electricity from "green" sources like wind, wave and solar power sharply increases household fuel bills, the Government has said. Electricity bills could rise by 13 per cent and gas prices could go up by as much as 37 per cent as consumers are made to pay more to subsidise green energy production, ministers said in a new Renewable Energy Strategy. ...The Renewable Energy Strategy says: "It is likely that the measures we need to use to increase renewable energy will add to the challenges we face in combating fuel poverty."

Thousands of wind turbines would be built in some of Britain's best loved countryside under Government plans to be unveiled this week. Ministers want a six-fold rise in the amount of electricity generated by onshore wind farms by 2020 to meet European targets on green energy. That would mean an extra 4,000 wind turbines across the UK - the equivalent of a new one every day for 12 years. ...Tory spokesman Peter Ainsworth said: ‘People genuinely want to go green, but Labour's overbearing centralised approach won't work and is riddled with contradictions.'

As many as a quarter of British homes could be fitted with solar heating panels under new government plans for a "green revolution". Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the new proposals are "the most ambitious" such strategy that Britain has seen. The goal is to meet the EU target of 15% of energy from renewables by 2020. But at a time of consumer anger over fuel prices, the plan concedes that green power will cost more. The plan will also call for 3,500 new wind turbines to be erected across the UK, the Guardian newspaper reported.

Britain is set to miss its own renewable energy target and will also fail to meet European Union requirements unless it steps up action substantially, a parliamentary report said on Thursday. The government has committed to getting 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010. Under an EU deal last year, it will have to quadruple that a decade later. Today, Britain gets less than five percent of its electricity from renewables, mainly wind. And despite many positive words, a combination of planning restrictions and rising material prices makes it unlikely it will be doubled in just two years.

John Constable, director of policy and research at the Renewable Energy Foundation, told a conference in Swaffham that the current mechanism is a very expensive way of reducing carbon emissions. He said lavish subsidies and high electricity prices have turned Britain's onshore windfarms into a moneyspinner, with a single turbine capable of generating £500,000 a year. According to 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.

The Scottish Government has set a target to produce 31 per cent of electricity demand from renewable sources by 2011, and 50 per cent by 2020. Any proposal to construct, extend or operate an onshore wind farm in Scotland with a generation capacity in excess of 50 Megawatts (MW) requires the consent of Scottish Ministers under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. The Scottish Government's Energy Consents Unit is currently processing 37 renewable project applications - 28 wind farms, eight hydro projects and one wave project.

One of Britain's leading energy providers warned yesterday that Britain will need substantial fossil fuel generation to back up the renewable energy it needs to meet European Union targets. The UK has to meet a target of 15% of energy from renewables by 2020. E.ON said that it could take 50 gigawatts of renewable electricity generation to meet the EU target. But it would require up to 90% of this amount as backup from coal and gas plants to ensure supply when intermittent renewable supplies were not available.

The British government opened a major new phase on Wednesday in its drive for renewable energy, calling for bids to build up to 25 gigawatts of offshore wind turbines, triple the amount already in the pipeline, by 2020. The announcement by the Crown Estate, which manages all property owned by the monarch including the seabed around Britain, was welcomed by British Wind Energy Association chairman Adam Bruce as "impressively bold." Under rounds one and two of offshore renewable power generation leasing program a total of eight gigawatts of wind turbines are under development.

A wind farm has been given the go-ahead despite a local campaign to keep the turbines out of an area of unspoilt countryside. Plans to build the £25 million development at Langhope Rig, an area of countryside three miles west of Ashkirk in the Borders, were cleared following a five-day public inquiry. There were about 350 letters against siting the wind farm in an area described as a tranquil spot popular with walkers and tourists. ...But a Scottish Government planning reporter reversed the decision following an appeal by Airtricity. Carolyn Riddell-Carre, the environment and planning representative on Scottish Borders Council, said rural areas were expected to take too many wind farms. "It's like fly-tipping," she said. "People think of open space and think they'll heap things on it, whether it's rubbish or a bunch of turbines."