Wind News

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Ed Miliband is set to unveil a £5.15 million research project aiming to solve the problem of radar interference from wind turbines

A £5.15 million research project aiming to solve the problem of radar interference from wind turbines is set to be unveiled by the secretary of state for energy and climate change, Ed Miliband, today (October 20).

According to the department of energy and climate change (DECC), aviation radar objections are one of the largest causes of wind planning applications being rejected or withdrawn in the UK.

And, Mr Miliband will claim that, by addressing the issue, the research could free up over five gigawatts worth of wind farm planning applications that currently face objections from the UK's leading air traffic control provider, NATS - formerly National Air Traffic Services.

In a speech at the British Wind Energy Association annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Miliband is set to say that: "I know that delays in the planning process can cause uncertainty and be a barrier to investment in renewables and there are specific issues in connection with aviation and radar that need to be addressed.

"This R&D project could resolve wind impacts on radar in the UK and potentially release 5GW of wind power," he will add.

The research project will involve a 19 month research and development programme, concluding in April 2011, to mitigate the effects of wind turbines on NATS' En Route radar infrastructure.

It will be run by a team of NATS technical experts, overseeing work being undertaken by Raytheon Canada, who provide NATS' systems.

The initiative has been funded by a combination of DECC, who have provided £1.55 million, the Crown Estate, who have provided £2 million in backing, and wind companies, who have provided £1.6 million in funding from a group of 14 developers via the Aviation Investment Fund Company.

DECC claims that, in addition to the 5GW of wind projects held up by radar interference objections, a further 5.5GW of capacity in earlier stages of development has been affected.

It highlighted a number of projects which, it said, had been granted planning consent by DECC, the Scottish Executive or local councils on the proviso that a solution to their potential radar interference was brought in.

As a result, it claimed that the success of the research project could allow these developments to start construction, as well as ensuring a "much swifter and more certain" planning process for future projects.

Ministry of Defence

The impact of radar interference concerns on wind projects was further illustrated in a response to a written parliamentary question published on Friday (October 16), in which defence minister Kevan Jones revealed that, since January 2008, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has objected to 51 wind farm applications for radar related reasons.

And, the minister also revealed that, of the 3,502 pre-planning applications the MoD was consulted on between January 2006 and October 7 2009, it had expressed concerns to 1,054 of them "on the grounds of interference with defence equipment and or operations".

Last week it was revealed that tests had been held on a 'stealth' turbine blade, which could potentially be invisible to radar (see this NewEnergyFocus story).