Households reap the rewards of wind turbines

Households that have invested on renewable energy units like wind turbines and solar panels are receiving payment for the electricity that they produce and also use. This privilege is valued at many hundred pounds and is granted thanks to the premium that other customers pay on regular electricity consumption.

A strategy devised by the government to motivate investment in renewable energy, it has caught consumers by surprise. Harry Metcalfe who publishes a magazine devoted to supercars, Evo talked about this sumptous offer from the government to pay homeowners for the renewable electricity that they produce and use. Having set up a 3- ft wind turbine in his spacious farmhouse at Cotswolds, Metcalfe says that he had not expected to be paid for the electricity that he used as well. The turbine installed in his farmhouse takes care of the power requirements of the house itself plus underfloor heating for the garage that houses a collection of sports cars. Metcalfe attributes his investment in a wind turbine to his fascination with innovative technological products as well as his innate reluctance to shell out big money for paying electricity bills.

The contract signed with Ecotricity, the energy provider for Metcalfe gives him 9p per unit of electricity generated by the wind turbine installed in his farmhouse. This is irrespective of the electricity generated being utilised by Metcalfe or directed to the national grid. Metcalfe benefits by over £700 per annum which will enable him to recover the amount of £13,000 he had put into this wind turbine in a period of 7 years.