THE COUNTRY is on the brink of disaster because power from wind is unreliable and its expanded use depends on developing storage technology that does not currently exist, the lobby group Net-Zero Watch has said.
Deputy director Andrew Montford told GB News: “Wind is absolutely not the way forward. We've known for decades that the wind doesn't blow all the time. And actually, as the Met Office reports that wind speeds have been declining for a couple of decades, as well, so it's getting less reliable.
“Politicians have said that everything will be okay, that we're going to develop ways to store electricity so we can make more when the wind is blowing, and then we'll have a reserve when it isn't. It's just not true.
“If you look at the available technologies, there are batteries, which are preposterously expensive. We're talking millions of pounds per household, I mean, ridiculous sums of money.”
Speaking to Philip Davies and Esther McVey, he said: “There's hydrogen, but again this is a pipe dream because you waste two thirds of the energy along the way. So again, it just ends up ridiculously complicated.
Andrew Montford says wind does not blow all the time, making wind power unreliable.
BEIS
“What we've done is we've gone into a drive for net zero, essentially crossing our fingers and hoping that somebody will invent some way to store electricity. And at the moment, they haven't.
“Now, what's happening now, of course, is that the wind doesn't blow and we don't have any other way to make electricity. Due to the fact we have closed down all our coal-fired power stations, give or take one or two, the gas is incredibly expensive so we are on the brink of disaster, essentially.”
Asked about storing surplus energy, Mr Montford said: “The best batteries that we have for grid-scale electricity storage are very expensive and are not getting any cheaper.
“Hydrogen, again, is a mature technology. We've made hydrogen through electrolysis for a century. So again, we shouldn't have any expectation of any great breakthroughs there.
“I mean, it's possible, but you can't plan an electricity grid based on the hope that somebody's going to come up with something that is extremely important. You should be planning your system based on technologies that you have.”