Small and medium wind energy drives UK rural economy

Large number of people in UK, have installed small and medium sized wind turbines in 2012, to take advantage of the feed-in-tariff system, according to the new report of RenewableUK.

Most of the turbines are installed on farms and domestic rural properties, which is reflecting that small and medium wind is playing a crucial role in improving the rural economy.

Around 23,500 wind turbines of small and medium size have been installed in UK in 2012, while about 25,000 turbines were exported by UK manufacturers.

The small and medium wind industry is worth around £100m to the British economy, and has increased the employment rate between 2010 and 2012.

The report also raised the concerns that the government is planning to reduce the level of feed-in tariff support and amalgamation of all turbines under 100kW into the same level of feed-in tariff bracket.

RenewableUK chief executive Maria McCaffery said that wind industry is powering the rural economy, while 20% of UK’s population is living in rural areas.

"This technology brings over £100 million into the rural economy and in the past couple of years we have seen the market almost double in size," McCaffery added.

"Despite the remarkable progress, serious challenges remain in terms of building the right policy framework for the industry, most notably the difficulty in achieving planning permission and the changes to the feed-in tariff.

"Significant growth took place before the Government’s decision to bring together all small wind turbines under the same feed-in tariff bracket, and reduce the tariff level."