HC Deb 27 January 2003 vol 398 cc556-7
5. Mr. Gareth Thomas (Harrow, West)

What assessment he has made of the impact of wind farms on military radar; and if he will make a statement. [93172]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Dr. Lewis Moonie)

Trials conducted by the Royal Air Force in 1994 and 1997 found that a wind farm in direct line has a detrimental effect on civilian and military radar performance, as the rotating blades can be a source of interference. The turbines can appear as genuine aircraft targets that could either mask aircraft responses or desensitise the radar within the sector containing the wind farm, and they can also cause an unquantifiable general effect on radar.

The Ministry of Defence is currently assisting with a Department of Trade and Industry sponsored study, which is being undertaken by Qinetiq, on the effects of turbines on radar systems. The aim is to identify ways in which adverse impacts can be reduced, including technical adaptations to turbine design. That study began in September 2001 and is due to be completed shortly.

Mr. Thomas

Given the potential impact on military radar, I recognise the need for the Ministry of Defence to examine each planning application for a new wind farm, but does my hon. Friend acknowledge the anxieties of several wind farm developers about the Ministry's occasional lack of speed in deciding whether to lodge an objection to a wind farm? Given the wind farm industry's considerable potential to create new jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, will he consider carefully further action to speed up the Ministry's consideration of such matters?

Dr. Moonie

Yes, I shall. Every proposal to the Ministry of the Defence receives a full appraisal by at least seven separate technical advisers, each with their own specialism. The criteria for the case-by-case consideration are the effect of the development both on the ability to train our pilots safely and operational capability. We are members of a steering group on wind energy, which is considering ways to speed up the process. Between July 1996 and November 2002, our experts had to consider some 1,900 proposals from wind farm developers throughout the United Kingdom. In 2002, we were consulted on a total of 952 developers' proposals, to which we have objected to 248 so far.

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