Polling for renewable energy trade body finds misconceptions around wind power despite popular support for the technology

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The UK public believes that wind power subsidies paid by consumers are many times higher than they actually are, according to polling for the industry.



A survey questioned 2,000 people for industry body RenewableUK about what they thought payments for wind farms added to fuel bills, and found the average estimate was £259 for a typical £1,300 dual-fuel energy bill.

But the industry said the actual cost of wind power subsidies from domestic energy bills was around £18 a year.

The research also suggests people underestimate public support for wind power, putting backing at around 40% on average, while the latest surveying by the government show support is at 74% for offshore wind and 68% for onshore wind farms.

And people underestimate how much of the time wind turbines are generating power, the polling shows.

Some two-thirds of those questioned (66%) think they were generating energy less than half of the time, but RenewableUK said they the generate power - at different outputs depending on wind speed - between 70% and 85% of the time.

Three-quarters also overestimated the amount of wind needed to keep a wind turbine turning, putting the figure at 14mph or higher according to the polling by OnePoll, when they actually need just 7mph - a light breeze, the industry body said.

RenewableUK chief executive Maria McCaffery said: “These independent polls show there considerable misconceptions about the cost of supporting wind energy - it’s much lower than people think, at just 35p a week per household.

“It’s also revealing to see that wind has almost double the amount of public support than was estimated.”

She said “the loud voices of a small majority” were trying to distort the facts.