These are vast areas of South and West facing green grass half a mile (1 kilometer) long or so, escarpments enclosing Thames Water’s reservoirs, mainly kept in check by local sheep who quietly graze on the banks of local reservoirs here in the rather awkwardly named Elmbridge Borough Council.
This encompasses not only the reservoirs but also the vast spaces of Sandown Park and Hurst Park (formerly a race course but closed down after a Suffragette arson attack in the 1920s), as well as parks in Esher, Walton, Molesey (the environs of Hampton Court) and Hersham (all in Surrey).
The reservoirs are surrounded by nothing much – residents are far away from these open spaces so perhaps something could be done to create “free” energy from here? Nothing has been proposed in relation to this land – the reservoirs just sit on Thames Water’s land, but the Company just sends local flyers about not throwing oils and fats down our drains to avoid “fatburgs” in their drains, but nothing about energy renewal, despite sitting on vast tracts of land.
Windmills supplemented by solar panels
Some windmills, supplemented by solar panels, could be installed either by Elmbridge Borough Council or Surrey County Council to create new, local, power for the locale. Given that windmills can produce some sound, of course they should be installed far away from homes, but, if these were built on these green and mellow lands, there would be no interference with the local quality of life. The grazing sheep would not be disturbed as they munch their lunch around them.
But with a Government in an endless spin over onshore or offshore power, on-message or off-message, “wheels within a wheel” as Noel Harrison sang in 1968 and got an Oscar for best music for the “Thomas Crown Affair” in 1969 (see You Tube “Windmills of Your Mind” to re-spin this with prescient words) – a song with lyrics relevant to today’s confusion over the endless circular political spins over wind power. What’s next? From Boris to Liz to Rishi and back again to Boris and Michael Gove and Sir Keir, who should be listened to?
Nimbies may complain, supported by Surrey MPs such as the Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab and the Chancellor, the Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt, as well as other Kent and Surrey MPs, but electricity is a much-needed utility and the space to generate more is available.
So, onwards, and windwards perhaps. Should we be engaged – perhaps…? Or are these just windmills to be tilted at in our minds?
Editor’s Response
Yes, we should be engaged, Philippe. Rishi Sunak’s Government have only just this month announced a change of policy to allow onshore windfarms. So, are there going to be some on land in Kent or Surrey? A quick google of best sites for onshore windfarms indicates that, unsurprisingly, they have to be sited where there is enough wind. It is likely that those reservoirs are in a dip surrounded by the embankments. Wind inside that bowl may not be sufficient. Furthermore, water authorities are likely to be cautious about such construction following the experience in Scotland where it is claimed some windfarms have poisoned water sources. In order to anchor each post for the revolving blades, it is necessary to dig deep (90m in some cases) and pour a lot of concrete on site. Sites with soft soil are unsuitable.
Wind drought
This month is not the best for arguing for wind-power as we happen to be in the midst of a wind drought, across Europe and the British Isles. The UK has an energy mix of 28% wind power but last week, according to sky news, the contribution of wind to our energy demand was lower at 3.4% even than coal (3.8%). In the long-term, climate change is expected to reduce the amount of wind-power available to the British Isles. The warming of the Arctic will curtail gusts in the Northern hemisphere, reducing UK wind by 10 %. Yet the Government still plans to increase investment in off-shore wind-power to 50GW by 2030, and then turn off coal and gas plants in 2035.
Thames Water has already invested in power generation, at its Elizabeth reservoir, where the floating solar panels produce 6MW, used for powering the Thames Water plant. At the time of construction in 2014, it was the largest such floating array in Europe but this record has been overtaken by the huge Portuguese project completed in May this year.
