Claims that there has been no research done on the possible savings from
wind energy.
This is not true. The following reports have been widely publicised.
The SEAI Study on the Impact of Wind Generation on Wholesale Electricity Costs in 2013 showed that Wind generation in 2011 reduced Ireland’s wholesale market cost of electricity by around €74 million. This saving offset the other costs associated with the generation of wind energy and so was cost neutral to the Irish consumer.
The Value of Wind Energy to Ireland study published in March 2014 by Pöyry, a leading international consulting and engineering consultancy, and Cambridge Econometrics. This very detailed report took into account all the costs and benefits of wind, including balancing and backup costs, grid upgrade costs and the cost to the PSO of AER and REFIT contracts.
The analysis shows that if Ireland deploys wind capacity to meet 2020 targets the wholesale price will fall by €2.10/MWh by 2020 and that wind energy does not place a burden on the Irish consumer due to the net economic benefits of wind energy development. The European Commission confirmed in its Working Document on Energy Prices and Costs published 17 March 2014 that “for wind electricity in Spain and Ireland the benefits for electricity consumers in terms of reduction in whole-sale prices outweigh the costs of subsidies.”
Using wind to generate electricity is reducing Ireland’s fossil fuel bill by €250m annually according to a report from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.