THE Government needs to be transparent about the costs involved in wind energy, according to a leading British energy economist.

Prof Gordon Hughes of the University of Edinburgh said the costs of wind energy included more than "simply building wind turbines". He said the UK experience showed they included expensive transmission costs to supply wind energy from the coast of Scotland to the midlands.

Such costs were covered by all consumers. "Why should it not be the developers who pay, rather than socialising the cost?" he asked.

He said subsidies for suppliers were "less generous" in Ireland than in Britain, where he estimated consumers paying an average £500 a year electricity bill would be paying £750 by 2020.