The stand-off between climate change protesters perched high on two power station chimneys and police encircling the plant below is continuing in spite of high winds.

Clinging to metal railings near the top of the 91m (300ft) water cooling tower at EDF's new gas-fired power station at West Burton in Nottingamshire, the group said that they were concentrating on stopping their tarpaulin shelter from blowing away.

After tweeting a dawn picture of the second occupied chimney with the River Trent winding behind, they linked the fierce gusts to Wednesday's political row over wind power, suggesting that the huge West Burton complex would be "an ideal site for a windfarm."

Ewa Jasiewicz, one of 11 people occupying the plant's central chimney, said: "It's really seriously windy up here and we're really seriously upset by this nonsense today about stopping windfarms. People often say that this country is the 'Saudi Arabia of wind power' and it's unforgivable that the Conservative side of the coalition seems to be going against that. It's completely out of step with all thinking on cutting carbon and using sustainable power."

Workers from EDF, which is trialling the £600m gas station before connection to the national grid, have started building temporary fences round the central tower and one of its two neighbours which is also occupied by another five protesters. The central tower was working on test power generation until the No Dash for Gas group moved in at around 1am on Monday 29 October. The other occupied tower is not complete and has not yet been used.

Police are on the site and have been trying to maintain a dialogue with the protesters and persuade them to come down. Jasiewicz said: "We have made it clear that we intend to stay up here for days and also that we will give ourselves up when we do come down and we will not carry out any criminal damage."

Nottinghamshire police warned late on Monday that their operation could cost over £200,000 if the protest continued for more than a week, and the local Labour MP for Bassetlaw, John Mann, attacked the "waste of money by pseudo-environmentalists". The protesters countered that there was no need for any more than a few constables to arrest them when they came down.

Jasiewicz said: "The police only get excited when we make a move – for instance, we had to rescue our kite from the roof of a nearby building last night. Sadly, the wind is much too high for our original plan of using the kite to rig a line between the two occupied chimneys. The direction it's blowing, it would be easy to get it to the other chimney but that's the only one of the three which isn't occupied."

The confrontation remains largely good-natured, with laughing and joking on both sides during the kite recovery. But Jasiewicz said that officers appeared to be searching nearby fields in a way which would deter supporters or sightseers from getting close to the largely inaccessible site. The protesters continue to take turns to occupy a platform hanging inside the flue of the chimney, which is sheltered from the wind.

Five women from Leeds and Manchester are on police bail after they were arrested early on Monday morning on suspicion of aggravated trespass, when a helicopter with a searchlight assisted a search of ground floor buildings at the plant.

EDF has confirmed that the plant will remain shut until the protesters come down, which has increased their determination to stay put as long as possible. They have reinforced their flimsy tarpaulin cabin with wood, scaffolding poles and ladders.

No Dash for Gas said that more than 30 campaigners had got on to the West Burton site on Monday through a gap in fences which are a long walk from nearby roads with the River Trent, drainage dykes and the power station's railway line also impeding access. Sixteen remain on the two chimneys and five have been bailed after being arrested on the ground. The remaining nine got away.

The group said: "The occupiers have so far prevented 2,371 tonnes of CO 2 emissions a day by shutting down the one working chimney. This is equivalent to the energy that an average home uses for 182 years, or taking 465 cars off the road for a year. As the human and economic costs of hurricane Sandy become clearer, the need to take action on climate change and avoid many more instances of such extreme weather-related disasters has never been more pressing."

Another chimney percher, Anneka Kelly, said over one the mobile phones which are being kept powered-up by a solar panel and wind-up generator: "The government, at the behest of the big six energy companies, wants to build 20 new gas power stations. This is indefensible. Gas is expensive, highly polluting and we don't need it. We should be investing in clean high-tech renewables that slash pollution and in the long run will cost a lot less."

The group promised to give Nottinghamshire police several hours' notice of their eventual descent so that arrangements could be made for orderly arrests.