It’s not a National Wealth Fund now, is it?

Well. this is exciting:

Every islander on Orkney is expected to benefit from a major windfarm being built by the local council after it won £62m in financing from the UK’s national wealth fund.

Well, yes, we all did think that this “National Wealth Fund” was going to just spray the money at the same ol’ same ol’. More windfarms that have to be supported with RoCs, CfDs and whatever the current alphabet soup is applied to the subsidy scheme. More, that is, of what does not add value and therefore does not make us wealthier.

But, given that this is a government scheme this can get worse, can’t it? Yes, indeed it can:

All the profits from the project to build up to 18 turbines across three islands on Orkney will be spent on local services, council officials said, in what is expected to become the UK’s largest publicly owned windfarm.

They are defining the profit there as the surplus after the subsidies which is odd but there we are.

But this National part. It’s us national taxpayers who are providing the money therefore it’s us national taxpayers who should be gaining the profit. We’re not - that profit is going to the locals there. The locals there are being made wealthier if you like.

So, what we’ve got so far is something that isn’t a wealth fund - investing in this which require subsidies does not increase wealth - and it’s not even national either. We suppose it’s possible that there is in fact a fund but who knows these days?

Tim Worstall