Stephen Tasker of Hymoto has outdone himself as the ‘loose canon’ of the UK small wind industry by setting up a new Association in competition with BWEA.
“For the record I have repeatedly tried to work with the British Wind Energy Association but unfortunately this organisation has advised me that it has taken a policy of no communication with myself….
“Our view is that some things which are now happening in our industry are “just wrong” – particularly with regard to MCS – and we are not prepared to accept “that the establishment can’t be beaten” or that you have to be a “member of the club” to be in the British small wind industry”
Let’s hope he has got his facts straight and isn’t just scuppering the chances of the small wind industry being taken seriously by government. But the idea of a not-for-profit association promoting the interests of the British Small Wind Industry, rather than a club that exists to make money by whatever means, is quite refreshing.
We do not agree about the best way to test a turbine and predict energy output. But he does propose that there should be no link between the new ‘feed in tariffs’ and testing, a link that worries me as it excludes all homebrewed wind turbines from earning legitimate revenues under the new FIT system. Any testing regime is likely to be extremely expensive, excluding the small guy from the table. The cost of gaining approval under the MCS scheme has been estimated at £80,000.
