In response to the recent Scottish Government approval for the offshore wind farm test facility near Donald Trump's golf course, I anticipate disgruntled correspondents will remind us that the wind does not blow continuously ("Trump in turbine legal threat", The Herald, March 27).

They will pose the question: what do we do when the wind is not blowing? Allow me please to answer that question.

The Ben Cruachan power station is capable of generating 440 MW of electricity (that is four times more powerful than the proposed offshore scheme near Aberdeen). It can go from standby to full production in two minutes, thus it is used to deal with periods of peak demand on the grid. If the turbines are on spinning reserve (turning in air, awaiting the rush of water) it can supply 200 MW of electricity to the grid within 30 seconds. It can operate for 22 hours before the supply of water in the top reservoir is exhausted. The power station is required to keep a 12-hour emergency supply, referred to as a Black Start.

There are similar pump-storage schemes in Scotland, already in existence or planned. A very large scheme was recently opened on the shores of Loch Ness. There is also a larger scheme proposed for Choire Ghlais above Loch Lochy, which I assume will be available in a few years. It would not be difficult to convert the Loch Sloy scheme to pump storage. There are other possibilities for storing the energy generated by wind farms.

A long time ago I worked my way through university as a navvy in hydroelectric schemes around the Highlands. I feel the wheel has now turned full circle and I am excited by the idea. If anyone wants to build a wind generator in my back garden, they are welcome. What I do not want is a dump for nuclear waste anywhere in Scotland, or leaking its contents into Scottish waters.

Hugh Noble,

Creachan,

Portnacroish,

Appin,

Argyll.

I would like to remind readers that it was the Labour Party that set the wind farm bandwagon in motion.

A sub-committee rubber stamped the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) legislation in 2002 and the madness began. Lewis MacDonald was the then Energy Minister who ignored the many thousands of objections about the number of wind farms proposed for Scotland.

I sent him a petition with thousands of signatures from people all over Scotland, I gave evidence along with others to the Petitions Committee and travelled to Holyrood and gave a personal presentation to Alan Wilson, Mr MacDonald's successor as Energy Minister.

The Scottish Government has received more letters of complaint about wind farms than just about anything else, all to no avail. There was an element of hope that the madness might be halted when just prior to the 2007 Scottish election, Alex Salmond announced if the SNP were elected they would initiate a moratorium on land-based wind farms. They gained a majority of one, and two of their seats were major swings that came about because of this pledge on a moratorium, one in Cunninghame North and the other in the Western Isles.

We were lied to, and this SNP-led administration has since allowed Scotland's scenery to be raped and pillaged by mostly foreign developers, using foreign equipment, to satisfy meaningless political targets.

After almost two decades of wind farm development in Scotland not a single nuclear or fossil-fuelled power station has closed as a result. Emissions have not reduced enough to make any difference. The current wholesale price of electricity from normal sources is about £50/MwH, from onshore wind about £95/MwH and from offshore wind about £140/MwH. It is clear the inmates are running the asylum.

In the very near future, when the lights begin to go out, those of us who have given many years of our lives trying to expose the wind farm scam will, sadly, be able to say: "I told you so."

Bob Graham,

Craigsview,

Inchberry,

Orton, Moray.