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Renewable energy is often pitched as cheaper to produce than fossil fuel energy. To quantify whether this is true, we have been studying the financial impact of expanding wind energy in the UK. Our results are surprising.

From 2010 to 2023, wind power delivered a benefit of £147.5 billion — £14.2 billion from lower electricity prices and £133.3 billion from reduced natural gas prices. If we offset the £43.2 billion in wind energy subsidies, UK consumers saved £104.3 billion compared with what their energy bills would have been without investment in wind generation.

UK wind energy production has transformed over the past 15 years. In 2010, more than 75% of electricity was generated from fossil fuels. By 2025, coal has ceased and wind is the largest source of power at 30% – more than natural gas at 26%.

This massive expansion of UK offshore wind is partly due to UK government subsidies. The Contracts for Difference scheme provides a guaranteed price for electricity generated, so when the price drops below this level, electricity producers still get the same amount of money.

The expansion is also partly due to how well UK conditions suit offshore wind. The North Sea provides both ample winds and relatively shallow waters that make installation more accessible.

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Read more:
How a more flexible energy grid can cope better with swings in Britain’s weather

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The positive contribution of wind power to reducing the UK’s carbon footprint is well known. According to Christopher Vogel, a professor of engineering who specialises in offshore renewables at the University of Oxford, wind turbines in the UK recoup the energy used in their manufacture, transport and installation within 12-to-24 months, and they can generate electricity for 20-to-25 years. The financial benefits of wind power have largely been overlooked though, until now.

Our study explores the economics of wind in the energy system. We take a long-term modelling approach and consider what would happen if the UK had continued to invest in gas instead of wind generation. In this scenario, the result is a significant increased demand for gas and therefore higher prices. Unlike previous short-term modelling studies, this approach highlights the longer-term financial benefit that wind has delivered to the UK consumer.

Central to this study is the assumption that without the additional wind energy, the UK would have needed new gas capacity. This alternative scenario of gas rather than wind generation in Europe implies an annual, ongoing increase in UK demand for gas larger than the reduction in Russian pipeline gas that caused the energy crisis of 2022.

Given the significant increase in the cost of natural gas, we calculate the UK would have paid an extra £133.3 billion for energy between 2010 and 2023.

There was also a direct financial benefit from wind generation in lower electricity prices – about £14.2 billion. This combined saving is far larger than the total wind subsidies in that period of £43.2 billion, amounting to a net benefit to UK consumers of £104.3 billion.

Wind power is a public good

Wind generators reduce market prices, creating value for others while limiting their own profitability. This is the mirror image of industries with negative environmental consequences, such as tobacco and sugar, where the industry does not pay for the increased associated healthcare costs.

This means that the profitability of wind generators is a flawed measure of the financial value of the sector to the UK. The payments via the UK government are not subsidies creating an industry with excess profits, or one creating a financial drain. They are investments facilitating cheaper energy for UK consumers.

Wind power should be viewed as a public good — like roads or schools — where government support leads to national gains. The current funding model makes electricity users bear the cost while gas users benefit. This huge subsidy to gas consumers raises fairness concerns.

Wind investment has significantly lowered fossil fuel prices, underscoring the need for a strategic, equitable energy policy that aligns with long-term national interests. Reframing UK government support as a high-return national investment rather than a subsidy would be more accurate and effective.

Sustainability, security and affordability do not need to be in conflict. Wind energy is essential for energy security and climate goals – plus it makes over £100 billion of financial sense.

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A cyclist who received severe third-degree burns to his head after being struck by a drunk driver has been fitted with a printed 3D face.

Dave Richards, 75, was given a 3D prosthetic by the NHS that fits the space on his face and mimics his hair colour, eye colour and skin. His face received full-thickness burns after a speeding drunk driver hit him while he was out cycling with friends.

He said he was “lucky to survive” the crash which also damaged his back and pelvis and caused him to break several ribs on one side of his body.

While recovering, he was referred to reconstructive prosthetics, which has opened the Bristol 3D medical centre, the first of its kind in the UK to have 3D scanning, design and printing in a single NHS location.

Richards, from Devon, said surgeons tried to save his eye but “they were worried any infection could spread from my eye down the optic nerve to the brain so the eye was removed”.

“The decision was then made to go for free flap, taking tissue with blood arteries and veins and plumbing it into my neck, the flap completely covering the side of my face.”

He called the process of getting a 3D-printed face “not the most pleasant”. He added: “In the early days of my recovery, I felt very vulnerable, and would not expose myself to social situations.

“It took me a long time to feel comfortable about my image, how I thought people looked at me and what they thought of me – but I have come a long way in that respect.

Describing the incident that nearly cost him his life, which took place in July 2021, he said: “It was a lovely sunny day, and not long into the ride we were going up a hill on a B road, and this guy comes up behind us at speed, and over the drunk drive limit.

“He was on his phone, racing up behind us and we were all in line. He wanted to swerve around us, but there was a car coming the other way, so it was either smash into the car or smash into us.”

Richards said his two friends were hit by the car and thrown clear of it but he became trapped under the vehicle. “[I] was rolled along, with the engine and exhaust burning through one side of my body and the other side being crushed by the car.”

He said despite his initial “sceptical” feelings towards his treatment, he was happy he had followed through.

“I’m glad I’ve followed this treatment process as it has got me to where I am today. I have always said no matter what treatment is offered, if I think there’s a benefit and the risks aren’t too high, I will try anything and have a go and that’s still the case.”

Amy Davey, the senior reconstructive scientist at North Bristol NHS trust, said: “Surface scanning patients for prosthetics means that patients can be scanned while moving, and this technology can use that movement to aid the prostheses to accommodate movement.

“The 3D printers used involve advanced plastic resins whose properties allow direct application to the skin, with materials that are safe against the skin for long periods.

The man who struck Richards was sentenced to three years and banned from driving for seven years but it is believed he was released after one and a half years for good behaviour and for pleading guilty from the start.

Richards said: “As you can imagine, I am not best pleased with his reduced sentence as I very nearly lost my life and have to live with all the pain from my injuries on a daily basis.”