{"id":353088,"date":"2024-12-03T18:55:23","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T17:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=353088"},"modified":"2024-12-03T18:55:24","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T17:55:24","slug":"cost-of-switching-off-u-k-wind-farms-on-windy-days-hits-absurd-1-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=353088","title":{"rendered":"Cost of Switching Off U.K. Wind Farms on Windy Days Hits \u201cAbsurd\u201d \u00a31 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Will Jones<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

British energy bill payers have spent an \u201cabsurd\u201d \u00a31 billion to temporarily switch off wind turbines so far this year because the grid struggles to cope with their power on windy days. The Telegraph <\/em>has more<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The amount of wind power \u201ccurtailed\u201d in the first 11 months of 2024 stood at about 6.6 terawatt hours (TWh), according to official figures, up from 3.8 TWh in the whole of last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtailment is where wind turbines are paid to switch off at times of high winds to stop a surge in power overwhelming the grid. Households and businesses pay for the cost of this policy through their bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of switching off has reached about \u00a31 billion so far this year, according to analysis of market data by Octopus Energy which was first reported by Bloomberg<\/em>. This is more than the \u00a3779 million spent last year and \u00a3945 million spent in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jump in curtailment follows the opening of more wind farms at a time when the country still lacks the infrastructure needed to transport all the electricity they generate at busy times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clem Cowton, the Director of External Affairs at Octopus, added: \u201cThe outdated rules of our energy system mean vast amounts of cheap green power go to waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absurd that Britain pays Scottish wind farms to turn off when it\u2019s windy, while simultaneously paying gas-power stations in the South to turn on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to change the rules that govern our system to make the most of our homegrown energy and get bills down for British households and businesses.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Mann, an electricity markets expert at FTI Consulting, said the high curtailment costs underlined the lack of cables to transport power to the South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he also argued the \u00a31 billion cost was partly the result of Britain\u2019s national electricity pricing system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Mann said: \u201cCongestion costs are an inevitable problem under the current market design we have in Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIncreasing the amount of transmission capacity we have can alleviate the problem but not fully \u2013 it will remain an enduring issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt some point you have to do something that encourages greater demand in the North, for example lower prices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the National Energy System Operator (Neso), curtailment costs are on course to surge to \u00a36 billion by 2030 if the status quo continues.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And of course, we also pay extra to turn on the gas on windless days. Renewables are only good for Goldilocks, it seems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worth reading in full<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British energy bill payers have spent an \u201cabsurd\u201d \u00a31 billion to temporarily switch off wind turbines so far this year because the grid struggles to cope with their power on windy days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":353090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819239,691830946,691818154,691818181,691818180,691818852],"class_list":{"0":"post-353088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-green-subsidies","9":"tag-national-energy-system-operator-neso","10":"tag-net-zero","11":"tag-renewable-energy","12":"tag-wind-farms","13":"tag-wind-power","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-02-184429.png?fit=1470%2C915&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1tQY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":353217,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=353217","url_meta":{"origin":353088,"position":0},"title":"Cost of switching off UK wind farms soars to \u2018absurd\u2019 \u00a31bn","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/12\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"British bill payers have spent an \u201cabsurd\u201d \u00a31bn to\u00a0temporarily switch off wind turbines\u00a0so far this year as the grid struggles to cope with their power. The amount of wind power \u201ccurtailed\u201d in the first 11 months of 2024 stood at about 6.6 terawatt hours (TWh), according to official figures, up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"British bill payers\"","block_context":{"text":"British bill payers","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=british-bill-payers"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0YAYMFVFJU4W0MJ00I1L8.jpg?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0YAYMFVFJU4W0MJ00I1L8.jpg?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0YAYMFVFJU4W0MJ00I1L8.jpg?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0YAYMFVFJU4W0MJ00I1L8.jpg?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0YAYMFVFJU4W0MJ00I1L8.jpg?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":226703,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=226703","url_meta":{"origin":353088,"position":1},"title":"British Taxpayers Paying Wind Power Outfits \u00a3500,000,000 Every Year to Produce NOTHING!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Perversely, energy suppliers are paid more for that than for producing energy. As offshore wind comes on stream, the great energy switch off will only increase. 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