UK - BWEA statement on Whinash decision

BWEA, the UK’s leading renewable energy association, has today expressed its disappointment with the announcement by Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks and Rural Affairs Minister Jim Knight to refuse permission for a wind farm on common land near Whinash, near Tebay in Cumbria. The Whinash wind farm could have potentially met one-third of the renewables target for the Cumbrian region alone, providing clean green electricity for over 45,000 homes and displacing the emission of up to 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

BWEA's Chief Executive Marcus Rand commented: "While this is clearly disappointing news it is still only one project and many more projects onshore wind projects are being built throughout the UK. BWEA is confident that onshore wind energy will remain the mainstay of renewable energy delivery over the coming years. This year a record number of onshore wind projects will be built, totalling over 600 MW of capacity and we believe at least 5% of the nation's power will be met from onshore wind projects by 2010."

The UK wind industry is in an unprecedented period of growth which will see it contribute a significant proportion of the Government’s 10% target for renewables by 2010, from projects on and offshore. Wind power is the most commercial of the renewable energy technologies available to help this country meet its challenging targets on climate change and increasing energy security, a challenge being actively met by the UK wind industry.