Wind is one of the more common forms of renewable energy and has in fact been used for hundreds of years. UK wind power, however, is a largely unused resource. Currently, UK wind power consists of over 2700 wind turbines which collectively have the capacity to produce more than 4000 MW of electricity – enough to power over 2,000,000 homes.
That may sound like a great deal, but UK wind power only actually accounts for 2.2% of our electricity requirements. The UK has the largest wind resource in Europe but some other countries are already way ahead of us with up to 20% of their electricity supplied by wind power.
UK wind power is, however, in a period of growth according to the British Wind Energy Association. Back in 2005 the UK became one of only eight countries to break a 1 GW (gigawatt) of installed wind energy capacity. Current statistics also show that there is a year on year increase in the number of new projects in this country.
UK wind power currently consists of over 250 wind farms including nine in offshore locations. There are a further 485 plus projects which are either in planning, have received consent or are already under construction. Please see the British Wind Energy Association for the latest data where you can also view interactive maps showing the locations of the existing and planned wind farms.
If you would like more information on anything relating to UK wind power, visit the British Wind Energy Association at www.bwea.com
Many energy companies offer Green Tariffs which use renewable energy such as wind power. You can search for these and compare gas and electricity prices at our Energy Switch Marketplace
Source: BWEA 2009
For further Information on Wind Power click on the links below
