Energy supplier calls for less bureaucracy on wind farm development - 18/02/2009
A major UK energy supplier has called for less bureaucracy in a bid to increase the rate of wind farm development in Britain, reports the Times.
Jonathan Smith, of energy supplier E.On, said that the level of debate surrounding the development of any offshore wind farm has a serious impact and he called for this to be reduced in order to hasten the deployment of turbines.
He added that the existing subsidies for offshore development needed to be revised, while infrastructural improvements were necessary to enable offshore turbines to be successfully connected to the grid.
Mr Smith told the paper: "Local government delays planning by debating whether there is a benefit in projects. But with cases like renewables, where we're helping to meet national targets, it's not clear why there has to be so much debate."
The government said that the length of the planning process for wind farms has been reduced from two years to nine months, but that many different groups still needed to be consulted to address a variety of issues.
Wind farms are particularly controversial as critics argue that they dominate local landscapes.
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