‘Far too many of our eggs in one energy basket’

Anti-windfarm campaigners claimed the figures showing the fall in wind energy over the summer proved the government was on the wrong track.

Linda Holt, of Scotland Against Spin, said: “Windis completely variable and completely unpredictable, which means it can only ever by an adjunct to a proper energy supply that is steady and predictable, such as fossil fuels, nuclear or hydro.

“We are putting far too many of our eggs in the wind basket. Any engineer or economist will tell you that.

“It is so obvious, I don’t know why the government is not getting it.”

Independent Highlands anti- wind energy campaigner Lyndsey Ward said “shining examples” of wind power, like Denmark and Germany, were realising the renewable source was too expensive and cutting back on subsidies.

“The Scottish Government needs to take a cold, hard look at what is happening across the world and admit that they have made a serious error of judgement regarding wind power,” she said.

“With all the thousands of turbines across the UK the output can be less than 1% of our needs – and at times when we need it most. No matter howmany thousands of turbines they build, when there is no wind they are useless.”

Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said: “This shows us that windfarms don’t work when it’s hot and we already know they don’t work when it’s too windy. So when exactly do these expensive, controversial developments pull their weight?

“We’ve long said that wind energy is intermittent and unreliable, and these figures prove that to be the case. What more evidence does the Scottish Government need?”