February theme: Aviation securityWind farms "a threat to [U.K.] national security"
The U.K. has an ambitious plan calling for producing a third of Britain’s energy needs from offshore wind farms; there is a problem, though: The Ministry of Defense says that both onshore and offshore wind turbines create gaps in radar coverage of the coast line, allowing a sneak aerial attack on the country
The U.K. government has an ambitious plan: Produce a third of Britain’s energy needs from offshore wind farms. Trouble is, the plan is now in jeopardy because the Ministry of Defense (MoD) objects, arguing that the turbines interfere with its radar. The MoD has lodged last-minute objections to at least four onshore wind farms in the line of sight of its stations on the east coast because they make it impossible to spot aircraft, the Times’s Magnus Linklater and Dominic Kennedy write. The same objections are likely to apply to wind turbines in the North Sea, part of the massive renewable energy project announced by John Hutton, the energy secretary, only two months ago. They would be directly in line with the three principal radar defense stations, — Brizlee Wood, Saxton Wold, and Trimingham on the Northumberland, Yorkshire, and Norfolk coasts.
Giving evidence to a planning inquiry last October, a senior MoD expert said that the turbines create a hole in radar coverage so that aircraft flying overhead are not detectable. In written evidence, Squadron Leader Chris Breedon said: “This obscuration occurs regardless of the height of the aircraft, of the radar and of the turbine.” He described the discovery as alarming. The findings were the result of trials carried out in 2004 and 2005 but the MoD appears to have toughened its stance more recently. It now objects to almost all wind farms in the line of sight of its radar stations. The change of policy has prompted fury among developers, who had previously been told that there were no defense implications. They have now written a letter of protest to Hutton and Des Browne, the defense secretary, pointing out that millions of pounds of investment are at risk.
The MoD says that Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the chief of the Defense Staff, has given a firm direction that radar surveillance capability must not be degraded. It denied that it would make automatic objections, saying: “All wind farm applications are assessed on a site-by-site basis. The MoD is committed to government targets for renewable energy and whenever possible we seek to work with wind farm developers to find a mutually acceptable solution.” It did, however, add: “We look at whether turbines will be in line of sight, ie, if the radar can see the turbine. If it can, we know there will be an effect as we have evidence from trials. We decide whether line-of-site effect is manageable or not.”
Squadron Leader Breedon said that not only did the turbines create a radar hole directly over a wind farm but there was also a shadow beyond them that prevented low-flying aircraft being detected. He said: “The MoD trial results were alarming as they confirmed a greater impact than that previously thought. This in turn required a more robust approach to wind turbine assessments.”
The British Wind Energy Association said: “This is a very real issue for us, but we are now working with government. We are hopeful of seeing progress on this soon so that we can reach the ambitious 2020 targets for renewable power in the U.K.” The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has described the MoD’s protests as holding objections. It has created an Aviation Working Group bringing together the wind energy industry, MoD, and Civil Aviation Authority to agree guidelines to solve conflicts.
