Sir,

I have read with interest the report from East Willamston Community Council in last week's Tenby Observer, where notification of an application for the erection of a wind turbine in the area is given. I note also it is claimed that an income up to £100,000 per annum would be generated, much of it to be distributed locally - rather like fairy dust - to the benefit of a number of projects.

But hold on a minute - if these turbines are such lucrative money spinners, why are our electricity bills inflated by inclusion of a 'green levy' to pay for them?

Am I being overly suspicious that the figures quoted might have been calculated by imaginative creative accounting by assuming that an ideal wind speed is blowing continuously and 100 per cent efficiency in conversion to electrical energy? Such assumptions would not of course stand up to serious scrunity.

Did the calculations take into consideration that there are times when the wind speed in not sufficient to operate the turbine blades and also the occasions when the wind speed is too great for the turbines to cope and they have to be turned off? When these conditions occur, it is of course necessary to have conventional power stations as back-up to prevent the lights going out.

Furthermore, if the turbines generate electricity when it is not needed in off-peak times, it goes to waste, because electricity cannot be stored like gas or oil, but we still have to pay the owners for that electricity!

Do the costings carried out factor in the cost of installation of these monstrosities, including the compensation to the land-owners and presumably an annual rent for allowing the installation on their land?

I am sorry, but I'm sceptical about a £100,000 windfall; I rather think that it is more like pie in the sky.

Clifford Hall,

Pentlepoir.