{"id":368521,"date":"2025-03-04T08:20:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T07:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=368521"},"modified":"2025-03-04T08:20:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T07:20:28","slug":"britain-paying-180000-an-hour-to-switch-off-wind-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=368521","title":{"rendered":"Britain Paying \u00a3180,000 an Hour to Switch Off Wind Farms"},"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

Britain is paying almost \u00a3180,000 an hour to switch off wind farms because there is nowhere for the excess power to go. The Telegraph <\/em>has more<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

So-called constraint payments<\/a>, where turbines are switched off to help balance the grid, have already cost \u00a3252 million in the first two months of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is up from \u00a3158 million over the same period last year, market data shows \u2013 an increase of 60%. The payments amount to \u00a34.3 million per day, or about \u00a3178,000 an hour, money which ultimately comes from energy bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revelation adds to concerns about the state of the UK\u2019s creaking power grid<\/a> as Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, pushes forward with an unprecedented expansion of wind and solar farms across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Richards, a former top Government adviser who now runs campaign group Britain Remade, said: \u201cSwitching cheap wind power off when it\u2019s windy is costing bill payers, and the waste is spinning out of control \u2013 we reached the quarter of a billion mark twice as fast compared to last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Government needs to fix this urgently. Instead of wasting wind we should be letting cheap power cut energy costs directly to make it easier to build new factories or data centres. Paying for waste is just wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grid operators are forced to resort to constraint payments because of bottlenecks in the network of cables that move electricity between the north and south of Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a wind farm has an agreement to generate power but cannot do so because it would overload the grid, it is handed a constraint payment instead to reduce its output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, another generator \u2013 often a gas plant \u2013 is asked to cover any shortfall elsewhere, in the part of the network where the power is needed. Because of the short notice, this is often far more expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, on Friday afternoon \u00a379,507 was spent on switching off wind turbines while \u00a31.2 million was spent buying energy elsewhere, according to the Wasted Wind website, which analyses Elexon market data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scotland\u2019s biggest offshore wind farm, Seagreen, was handed \u00a365 million alone to slash its output last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics including Britain Remade and Octopus Energy, the country\u2019s biggest supplier of household electricity and gas, have argued that the \u201cstaggeringly inefficient\u201d setup is a result of the existing electricity pricing system, where wholesale power costs are the same in every part of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This keeps power artificially cheap in areas such as the South East while skewing it higher in the North and Scotland.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Britain is paying almost \u00a3180,000 an hour to switch off wind farms because there is\u00a0nowhere for the excess power to go. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":368523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","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_feature_clip_id":0,"_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":[691819461,691819180,691818181,691818180,691818852],"class_list":["post-368521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-energy-bills","tag-energy-costs","tag-renewable-energy","tag-wind-farms","tag-wind-power","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Screenshot-2025-02-11-000504.jpeg?fit=1653%2C860&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1xRT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":262510,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=262510","url_meta":{"origin":368521,"position":0},"title":"Energy bills to rise \u00a3200 a year \u2018to pay for wasted wind\u00a0power\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/17\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Energy bills will rise \u00a3200 a year within a decade to pay for wasted wind power as new turbines in Scotland are paid to switch off, according to new forecasts.","rel":"","context":"In \"\u00a3200 a year\"","block_context":{"text":"\u00a3200 a year","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=200-a-year"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0HZNHcPyS.png?fit=1036%2C488&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0HZNHcPyS.png?fit=1036%2C488&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0HZNHcPyS.png?fit=1036%2C488&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0HZNHcPyS.png?fit=1036%2C488&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":245914,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=245914","url_meta":{"origin":368521,"position":1},"title":"Britain\u2019s Wind Industry Set to Receive Even More Taxpayer\u2019s Money For Producing Nothing At All","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/27\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"So-called wind power \u2018constraint payments\u2019 are more like a kidnapper\u2019s ransom, than a genuine commercial transaction. There aren\u2019t many exchanges that involve a producer claiming a fee for producing absolutely nothing, at all.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-900.png?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-900.png?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-900.png?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-900.png?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-900.png?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":401391,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=401391","url_meta":{"origin":368521,"position":2},"title":"Wind Constraint Payments Could Hit \u00a312 Billion A Year Under Labour\u2019s 2030\u00a0Plan","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/11\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We currently moan about having to pay a couple of hundred millions or so to persuade wind farms to switch off, but that will soon be the tip of the iceberg","rel":"","context":"In \"Clean Power 2030\"","block_context":{"text":"Clean Power 2030","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=clean-power-2030"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQOSg-GMAySmWroobLYZhIXmAPsh7qo3s9e4J2qLBSbf_hTbXBdOqhkkuJz-PePYfWrcTBts-kYbsmXH6E2EZ-vgungVg-yTK3PKGbuCJ37O10obrSY0ntpczCg85vC0wIY6Bz39nA65X-C2bWxcDs8t5rMrg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQOSg-GMAySmWroobLYZhIXmAPsh7qo3s9e4J2qLBSbf_hTbXBdOqhkkuJz-PePYfWrcTBts-kYbsmXH6E2EZ-vgungVg-yTK3PKGbuCJ37O10obrSY0ntpczCg85vC0wIY6Bz39nA65X-C2bWxcDs8t5rMrg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQOSg-GMAySmWroobLYZhIXmAPsh7qo3s9e4J2qLBSbf_hTbXBdOqhkkuJz-PePYfWrcTBts-kYbsmXH6E2EZ-vgungVg-yTK3PKGbuCJ37O10obrSY0ntpczCg85vC0wIY6Bz39nA65X-C2bWxcDs8t5rMrg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQOSg-GMAySmWroobLYZhIXmAPsh7qo3s9e4J2qLBSbf_hTbXBdOqhkkuJz-PePYfWrcTBts-kYbsmXH6E2EZ-vgungVg-yTK3PKGbuCJ37O10obrSY0ntpczCg85vC0wIY6Bz39nA65X-C2bWxcDs8t5rMrg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQOSg-GMAySmWroobLYZhIXmAPsh7qo3s9e4J2qLBSbf_hTbXBdOqhkkuJz-PePYfWrcTBts-kYbsmXH6E2EZ-vgungVg-yTK3PKGbuCJ37O10obrSY0ntpczCg85vC0wIY6Bz39nA65X-C2bWxcDs8t5rMrg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":423011,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423011","url_meta":{"origin":368521,"position":3},"title":"Constraint Payments Soar to New\u00a0Record","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/25\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The cost is actually overstated, because we would still need to pay for one lot of electricity anyway. 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