The House of Commons Committee on Energy and Climate Change has announced that it is to hold an inquiry into the economics of wind power.
The Committee is particularly interested in the following, although written submission need not address all, of be confined to, these questions:
- What do cost benefit analyses tell us about onshore and offshore wind compared with other measures to cut carbon?
- What do the latest assessments tell us about the costs of generating electricity from wind power compared to other methods of generating electricity?
- How do the costs of onshore wind compare to offshore wind?
- What are the costs of building new transmission links to wind farms in remote areas and how are these accounted for in cost assessments of wind power?
- What are the costs associated with providing back up capacity for when the wind isn’t blowing, and how are these accounted for in cost assessments of wind power?
- How much support does wind power receive compared with other forms of renewable energy?
- Is it possible to estimate how much consumers pay towards supporting wind power in the UK? (i.e. separating out from other renewables)
- What lessons can be learned from other countries?
- What methods could be used to make onshore wind more acceptable to communities that host them?
Looks like policy-based evidence making to me.