{"id":387247,"date":"2025-07-07T10:18:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T08:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=387247"},"modified":"2025-07-07T10:18:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T08:18:25","slug":"solar-farms-paid-to-switch-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=387247","title":{"rendered":"Solar Farms Paid To Switch\u00a0Off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

h\/t Doug Brodie\/Philip Bratby<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s started already!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Telegraph:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

British <\/em>solar farms<\/em><\/a> have been paid to switch off for the first time as sunny days prompt a surge of clean power that could overwhelm the grid.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Energy System Operator (Neso), which manages the UK\u2019s power grids and is overseen by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has issued switch-off orders to solar facilities this year, new research reveals.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operators are paid to switch off when these orders are issued, with the extra cost added to consumer and business energy bills.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The solar operators claiming compensation are understood to include some of the UK\u2019s biggest energy suppliers, such as EDF Renewables and Octopus Energy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such \u201cconstraint payments\u201d are already common with wind farms because so many have been built in areas such as northern Scotland or offshore, areas without grid capacity to carry the power they generate.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far this year, constraint payments have cost consumers \u00a3650m, according to the Wasted Wind website. The cost is added to energy bills.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall \u201cbalancing payments\u201d could hit \u00a38bn a year by 2030 without massive grid upgrades, according to Neso estimates. Such upgrades would also be extremely costly, with consumers liable.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is of course the tip of the iceberg. The real problems will start when we have three times as much wind and solar capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I noted here,<\/a> there will be many occasions during the year when we will be throwing a third of the electricity we produce, when demand is low and wind and solar power are high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only way to have enough renewable capacity at times of stress during winter is to build large surpluses in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What this latest news shows though is that there are already regional imbalances appearing, with too much solar power in local areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NESO\u2019s own projections for 2030 show that these surpluses will add \u00a315\/MWh to electricity costs. Even that is optimistic, because it assumes we will be able to export some of it, which may not be the case. It also assumes grid expansions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even at \u00a315\/MWh, that works out at \u00a35 billion a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
https:\/\/notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com\/2024\/12\/13\/milibands-300-energy-saving-is-smoke-mirrors\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once again, the red herring of zonal pricing is mentioned in the Telegraph report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Octopus has been campaigning for Britain\u2019s energy market to be broken up into regions that set their own prices based on supply and demand. <\/em>This reform, known as zonal pricing<\/em><\/a>, would theoretically reduce or even eliminate constraint payments by encouraging developers to build infrastructure in areas where prices were highest, meaning there would be sufficient cabling<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The basic idea is that new generation will be attracted to areas with high demand, and consumers attracted to the areas where supply exceeds demand, with price differentials the driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But most new generation will be paid via CfDs, so will be unaffected by whatever the market price happens to be. Moreover, most will be offshore wind, and therefore not embedded regionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the idea that people and industry are suddenly going to relocate to the Scottish Highlands is ridiculous. Or that people are going to switch all their electrical appliances on when it is windy, just because prices come down,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zonal pricing will no doubt be a good way for Octopus to charge higher prices. But the real solution is not to rearrange the deckchairs. It is to stop building wind and solar farms that cannot reliably meet demand when and where it is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

British\u00a0solar farms\u00a0have been paid to switch off for the first time as sunny days prompt a surge of clean power that could overwhelm the grid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":387252,"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":[691836367,691831484,691830946,691818154,691822303,691819094,691818267,691836368],"class_list":{"0":"post-387247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-edf-renewables","9":"tag-energy-secretary-ed-miliband","10":"tag-national-energy-system-operator-neso","11":"tag-net-zero","12":"tag-octopus-energy","13":"tag-renewable-green-energy","14":"tag-solar-power","15":"tag-zonal-pricing","17":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ChatGPT-Image-2.-Mai-2025-12_11_51.png?fit=1024%2C1536&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1CJV","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":423011,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423011","url_meta":{"origin":387247,"position":0},"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. As the Telegraph states, this is essentially a Scottish problem, as there is not enough transmission capacity to carry all the wind power south when it is windy. But naively, they then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"energy industry\"","block_context":{"text":"energy industry","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=energy-industry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQOFfL8eccltC4ORAKL_tOPoAZVJFLBG9X2vBhnxk8FjjgqbVLvdbkBCXgdKtsMZSbSrJSV8s8TJFsFF9acicXV5E-zWXlYtBryVNcf50BMBMmbO2riNAmEkkeKtgpOhDBLkSkXKcIPAad1nILv57ScDL-M-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQOFfL8eccltC4ORAKL_tOPoAZVJFLBG9X2vBhnxk8FjjgqbVLvdbkBCXgdKtsMZSbSrJSV8s8TJFsFF9acicXV5E-zWXlYtBryVNcf50BMBMmbO2riNAmEkkeKtgpOhDBLkSkXKcIPAad1nILv57ScDL-M-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQOFfL8eccltC4ORAKL_tOPoAZVJFLBG9X2vBhnxk8FjjgqbVLvdbkBCXgdKtsMZSbSrJSV8s8TJFsFF9acicXV5E-zWXlYtBryVNcf50BMBMmbO2riNAmEkkeKtgpOhDBLkSkXKcIPAad1nILv57ScDL-M-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQOFfL8eccltC4ORAKL_tOPoAZVJFLBG9X2vBhnxk8FjjgqbVLvdbkBCXgdKtsMZSbSrJSV8s8TJFsFF9acicXV5E-zWXlYtBryVNcf50BMBMmbO2riNAmEkkeKtgpOhDBLkSkXKcIPAad1nILv57ScDL-M-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQOFfL8eccltC4ORAKL_tOPoAZVJFLBG9X2vBhnxk8FjjgqbVLvdbkBCXgdKtsMZSbSrJSV8s8TJFsFF9acicXV5E-zWXlYtBryVNcf50BMBMmbO2riNAmEkkeKtgpOhDBLkSkXKcIPAad1nILv57ScDL-M-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":275871,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=275871","url_meta":{"origin":387247,"position":1},"title":"Energy prices really are a conspiracy against the public-Ross\u00a0Clark","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/27\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many consumers will be so relieved to hear that Ofgem has lowered its price cap again that they won\u2019t bother to ask the question they ought to be asking: how come, in a privatised electricity market, the price we pay for energy is still being determined by officials at a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0534273-popular-funny-stupid-wallpapers-2000x1500-pc.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0534273-popular-funny-stupid-wallpapers-2000x1500-pc.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0534273-popular-funny-stupid-wallpapers-2000x1500-pc.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0534273-popular-funny-stupid-wallpapers-2000x1500-pc.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0534273-popular-funny-stupid-wallpapers-2000x1500-pc.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":420666,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=420666","url_meta":{"origin":387247,"position":2},"title":"Scotland\u2019s biggest offshore wind farm wasting three quarters of energy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/09\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Scotland's largest operational offshore wind farm, the Seagreen project (1.075 GW capacity, 114 turbines, operated by SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies), reportedly wasted around 77% of its generated electricity in 2025 due to grid constraints. 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