Turbines, turkey and all the trimmings: How I’ll be talking about wind power to friends and family this Christmas.
Blog by Cerys Bowen, Brand and Digital Manager at Bute Energy.
First of all – disclosure – I’m a vegetarian.
If that means I’ve lost your attention already with a misleading headline, stay with me! This is a handy little read for in-between last-minute Christmas shopping, especially if you ever find yourself talking about wind power at Christmas with curious friends or family.
I love Christmas and catching up with what family and friends are up to: How’s the family? How’s the new job going? Did you end up getting that robot vacuum, and would you recommend it?
Somewhere between the roast potatoes and the Christmas crackers, I expect someone will lean across the table and ask:
“So… wind turbines. Don’t they kill birds? Aren’t they ugly? Do they actually do anything?”
So, here’s the simple, friendly version of how I plan to talk about wind power over the next few days. Because, as a Brand Manager working in a complex industry, I’ve been working with colleagues to ensure the way we talk about what we do is understandable, and exciting.
The basics:
- A wind turbine is essentially a giant version of a bicycle dynamo.
- The blades catch the wind, they turn, and that mechanical movement generates electricity.
- No magic. No mystery. No secret government switch.
What they deliver:
- In the UK, onshore wind has over 15 GW of installed capacity – enough to power millions of homes with clean, affordable electricity (source: RenewableUK).
A major slice of clean power:
Together with offshore wind, it’s responsible for a significant share of the country’s electricity generation in recent years. When it’s windy, wind can produce more power than gas.
That’s why when people ask, “Does wind power really matter?” the answer is:
Yes. Every day. And increasingly so.
But what about the common concerns?
“They’re noisy / ugly.”
Modern turbines are much quieter than older designs.
As for looks? Some people love them, others don’t. And that’s fair enough. Communities vary, and it’s our job to bring people on the journey with us and act on constructive feedback where possible.
“They kill birds / harm wildlife.”
This worry is understandable – but it’s also often overstated.
Developers like ourselves now use improved siting, environmental assessments, and wildlife monitoring to minimise risks. We take our responsibility to protect and enhance local biodiversity very seriously – that’s why we follow Welsh Government’s Net Benefit for Biodiversity (NBB) policy. This means that nature must be in a better state after the energy park than it was before.
For context, buildings, vehicles, and domestic cats pose far greater risks to birds than turbines do.
“Wind isn’t reliable – what if there’s no wind?”
True, wind varies. But across a whole country or region, wind farms tend to complement each other: when one area is calm, another is breezy. And wind is part of a mix – combined with other sources to balance the grid.
“They spoil the countryside.”
A fair concern.
But many wind farms sit on working farmland or lower-impact land, providing farmers with income while still growing crops or grazing animals. And for many communities, the trade-off is worth it: local investment, clean air, and other opportunities like employment and shared, local renewable energy projects.
What wind energy means right now:
When I’m explaining wind at Christmas, I usually bring it back to the bigger picture:
- Home-grown electricity here in Cymru – that reduces our reliance on imported fossil fuels.
- Progress towards national climate goals, which means cleaner air and a more secure energy future.
- Jobs and local investment, especially in some areas of the country where economic opportunities matter.
- We’re also using more and more energy – how many of us are now using Chat GPT on the daily? Our use of AI and other tech is increasing quicker than we can keep up with and we’ll need more energy to meet the demand.
Just as someone cracks open the After Eights I throw in some stats about wind power and what we do at Bute Energy:
- Our family of energy parks could produce enough renewable energy to power 2.5million homes
- We estimate that our projects will also support over 2,000 jobs in Wales
- Over 90% of materials used in onshore wind energy parks are recyclable
- As of 2023, renewables in Wales meet roughly 53% of the country’s electricity consumption (including losses).
And that’s when my brother-in-law wishes he’d never asked, my husband’s opened another bottle of red and I’m never invited over for Christmas ever again.
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