I'm afraid I agree. Without knowing all the details, and not knowing how these construction costs and power yields compares with other methods, it appears that this may be an extremely expensive technology in both financial and energy terms to implement and to maintain, even if it does exploit free wind. There are also other issues, as a possible hazard to navigation, vulnerability to North Sea storms, threat to birds and other wildlife, not to mention the unavoidable environmental impact of any marine construction project. Besides, it bothers me that its location well offshore seems to be primarily dictated by cosmetic, not engineering reasons.

I would like to think these considerations have all been factored in by the planners of these projects; but the more I learn about these "solutions", the more I am reminded that very often they have a mind of their own, and a constituency that promotes them for their own reasons, not the benefit of the community.

There is a future for wind power, for certain applications, but I agree this kind of money is probably better spent in increasing efficiency and promoting conservation. Particularly the latter. The cheapest way to create new energy is to not need it in the first place.