Local incentives proposed for wind farms

Communities that approve new wind farms could get a financial reward from the government under a new scheme promised by Charles Hendry, energy minister.

Mr Hendry will say on Thursday afternoon that wind is part of the solution to “massive energy-security and low-carbon challenges” faced by the country but that he intends to give the policy greater “democratic legitimacy”. “At present too often a community can see what it will lose by having a wind farm in its midst but it cannot see what it gains,” he will tell an audience at Westminster Hall.


The idea was first aired in the coalition agreement struck last summer by the Tories and Liberal Democrats, in which ministers promised to let communities that “host” renewable energy projects keep any additional business rates generated.

The policy was thought up in an attempt to overcome the often endemic hostility to new wind farms across rural Britain.

However, its implementation depends on a wider review by the communities department, led by Eric Pickles, into business rates as a whole. The rates are currently collected by councils but then sent back to the exchequer in London.

Mr Pickles has promised a study – the “local government resource review” – that will examine the case for greater devolution of business rates across the board.

The energy department (DECC) admitted that Mr Hendry’s plan to incentivise people to accept wind farms was dependent on this wider review by Mr Pickles, which will begin later this year.

The National Association of Wind Farm Action Groups said communities would not be “bribed” into accepting more turbines. “It is utterly naive of the energy minister to imagine that local communities, who have shown the strength of their opposition throughout the UK to inappropriately sited wind farms, to imagine that community funds can buy off their opposition,” it told the Daily Telegraph.

The coalition has vowed to generate 15 per cent of the UK’s energy from renewables by 2020 and hopes to lift the number of onshore wind turbines from 3,000 to 9,000.

The government has been in discussions with the industry about ways to persuade local authorities to accept new wind farms and the result is likely to be unveiled next week.

Renewables UK, which represents developers, will publish a new “code of practice” that is intended to standardise the incentives given to communities that accept new wind turbines.

These are likely to include cheaper energy prices for locals. “At present it can vary enormously, some communities get new educational centres or nurseries but some don’t get much,” said the DECC spokesman.

Source: http://www.ft.com