KMTV Renewable Energy Feature

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15th Sep 2017

 

KMTV Renewable Energy Feature

Following our MD’s Interview last month on KMTV, discussing the governments plans for renewable energy investment, Simon was invited back to give his thoughts and opinion regarding the increase of the wind farms across Kent.

Video & content courtesy of Kent Online KMTV

Electricity…we use an average of 3000kw of the stuff!

Now a lot of us may keep an eye on how much energy we use in the home, whether that be turning off light switches when we leave the room or turning off appliances off the wall when we’ve finished with them, but, today it was announced that wind farm technology has become cheaper than ever meaning that sites in Thanet could grow even further and become the biggest supplier of energy in the county and maybe even in the UK. 

The good price news was celebrated in the town at the weekend and included a visit by actress, Emma Thompson. 

But while the celebs enjoyed getting a close-up view for the day, the locals who work here all year round gave their support for the wind farm.

Merlin Jackson, Fisheries Liason Officer:

“I think the poll saying that 80% of the people are happy with wind energy is probably correct and in this local area, I wouldn’t be surprised by that. There are a lot of spin offs and quite a lot of benefits to the harbor and locally to businesses. The wind farms have tried hard to engage with a lot of different businesses here, so it makes sense to me that that’s the case”

Concerns have been raised in the past about the effect of wind farms on fishing in the region but even those once skeptical fisherman have said to have changed their minds.

Jason Gilson, Cockles Fisherman:

“In the winter we do a lot of mussel fishing and there’s been a lot more mussel seeds since the wind farms have been there so, in my own personal feeling, it’s a lot better, it’s improved the stocks”

Wind farms are still expensive however and rely heavily on the weather. There are no guarantees that the wind turbines can produce their maximum power unless they have ideal conditions so is it a resource worth pursuing?

Simon Dudson, The Little Green Energy Company explains: 

“We’ve worked out how to generate now with the wind and the solar as two typical examples, but now we need to be really looking at harnessing that using the battery technology. It’s taken a while but battery technology is now here and we should be looking now at more pushing into that side of things rather than keep ploughing money into old technology”

But could energy storage be a better alternative? Battery packs designed by Tesla help to keep energy stored up in the home and use when needed.

Simon Dudson, TLGEC continues:

“I mean Tesla have got storage on a whole island in the American Somoa project they did over there which they can actually go off grid for three days. You know, I mean, we’re talking a huge sort of solar PV array and battery storage but that’s the sort of potential of where this could go”

More Wind Farms to Come?…

With an ever growing population, investment into making more energy is needed and with the wind farm prices at an all time low, maybe we’ll see more of them spring up across Kent in the coming years.

To discuss this story further or talk to TLGEC regarding your renewable energy projects, please contact us today.