Marine energy way forward for electricity

I AM delighted that the Pembroke Dock Marine Project £60m investment has been given the green light regarding marine power generation.

It beggars belief that we have not developed predictable tidal and ocean current energy for the generation of electricity.

It makes fundamental sense as the UK is an island that has the secondhighest tidal range on the planet in the Bristol Channel.

I have been writing about marine energy for over 10 years and I am extremely pleased at this longawaited progress.

This is where the research and money should be spent and not wasted on large-scale wind generation.

I differ from Eleanor Clegg, Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth, Llangolman, and do not support the unnecessary and wanton industrialisation of our beautiful and irreplaceable Welsh countryside by monstrous wind-driven generators.

Indeed, the term wind turbine is disingenuous and is simply a misleading marketing ploy.

The wind industry can justifiably be accused of a mountain of exaggeration and untruths.

Windfarms are driven by avarice and not of necessity.

Wales generates more power than it needs and as such is an exporter of electricity.

It also begs the question of why place the requirement for electricity at the mercy of the wind, which we all know is variable and unpredictable – such engineering is a medieval concept – having the ability to generate power at midnight when there is suitable wind is mindless, especially when demand for power is minimal, and there is zilch power if there is no wind, or indeed, if the wind is too high.

Windfarms will never be an intelligent/suitable replacement for the potential and capacity of conventional power stations – basically, there is insufficient land available to accommodate thousands of wind generators and the sea is a hostile and costly environment for these limited winddriven machines.

There is no financial or power justification for such nonsense and misguided supporters need to wake up and do their diligent research.

I have yet to meet a power engineer, worth his salt, who would support wind farms, and I have worked at, or in, every power station in Wales.

Dave Haskell Brithdir, Cardigan