{"id":422912,"date":"2026-01-24T16:22:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=422912"},"modified":"2026-01-24T16:22:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:22:54","slug":"plans-for-huge-wind-farm-paused-over-unfair-grid-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=422912","title":{"rendered":"Plans for huge wind farm paused over \u2018unfair\u2019 grid\u00a0charges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/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

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

A huge wind farm planned off the north coast of Scotland will not be built unless “unfair” transmission charges are overhauled, the developer has warned.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 125-turbine West of Orkney wind farm had planned to generate enough electricity to power two million homes by 2029.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the consortium behind the project says the cost of connecting to the electricity network \u2013 which is highest in Argyll and the north of Scotland \u2013 makes it impossible to compete against projects proposed in England.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK government said it is considering the charges as part of a wider review.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transmission charges are imposed on power generators to build and maintain the network of pylons and underground cables which carry high-voltage electricity around Great Britain.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The charges for connecting to the grid were designed to encourage generators to build power stations close to where it is consumed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means they are the lowest around London and the south of England, where the electricity travels the shortest distance to reach the most densely populated group of consumers.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"Bar
Plans for huge wind farm paused over ‘unfair’ grid charges – BBC News<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hardly rocket science, is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you build a wind farm near the Orkneys, how do you think that electricity is going to get to England where it will be used?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Grok:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The West of Orkney Windfarm<\/strong> (a 2 GW offshore wind project located about 30 km off the west coast of Orkney and 25 km from the north Sutherland coast) will connect to the UK\u2019s National Grid via a grid connection agreement with National Grid ESO, specifically in Caithness<\/strong> on the Scottish mainland.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electricity generated offshore will be transmitted as follows:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
    \n
  • Offshore export cables<\/strong>\u00a0(high-voltage alternating current, HVAC) will carry the power from the wind farm\u2019s offshore substation platforms to\u00a0cable landfall points<\/strong>\u00a0on the north Caithness coast. One key mentioned landfall area is to the east of the former Dounreay Nuclear Facility (near Dounreay in Caithness). Up to two cable landfalls and up to five (or more in some descriptions) associated export circuits\/cables are planned, with cables buried underground once onshore.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • From the landfall points,\u00a0onshore underground cables<\/strong>\u00a0(export circuits) will route inland across Caithness for approximately 20 km (in some references) to a new\u00a0onshore substation<\/strong>\u00a0located at or near\u00a0Spittal<\/strong>\u00a0in Caithness.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The onshore substation will handle the electrical equipment (e.g., switchgear) and connect the project directly to the National Grid transmission network. It is associated with the SHET-L Spittal 2 substation (part of the Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission network, which operates in the north of Scotland under National Grid oversight for connections).<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Why should anybody else pay for all of this work, other than the wind farm itself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

    A huge wind farm planned off the north coast of Scotland will not be built unless “unfair” transmission charges are overhauled, the developer has warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":422919,"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":"Discover why the West of Orkney wind farm plans are on hold due to 'unfair' transmission charges affecting Scotland\u2019s energy future.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Plans for Orkney Wind Farm Halted Due to Grid Charge Issues","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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvY2xpbWF0ZS1zY2llbmNlLnByZXNzXC93cC1jb250ZW50XC91cGxvYWRzXC8yMDI2XC8wMVwvMEFRTlhZS1ZnM2JaLU5mLVBWSGdIYklwdGQ2RnJ4c0NRamdhMDl3MXUtTnRjNkVFOVZ1X01jc0hXMW9jWWRsRnFQNXVrcFAwU0oweUJFa0M0ZXhaOXZQdXVxRHVKeFFOQXdxcng4T0VHczhoMHZlck5yc1JLWlVJSGd4OEUtMS0xMDI0eDQ4Mi5qcGVnIiwidHh0IjoiUGxhbnMgZm9yIGh1Z2Ugd2luZCBmYXJtIHBhdXNlZCBvdmVyIFx1MjAxOHVuZmFpclx1MjAxOSBncmlkXHUwMGEwY2hhcmdlcyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiaGlnaHdheSIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNTU4MTI0NDl9.0gyWjK_XLdFLSDiMH9n9RtLUM8eEf1d6as7VyuidG78MQ"},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691840909,691820306,691840910],"class_list":{"0":"post-422912","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-huge-wind-farm","9":"tag-scotland","10":"tag-west-of-orkney","12":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0AQNXYKVg3bZ-Nf-PVHgHbIptd6FrxsCQjga09w1u-Ntc6EE9Vu_McsHW1ocYdlFqP5ukpP0SJ0yBEkC4exZ9vPuuqDuJxQNAwqrx8OEGs8h0verNrsRKZUIHgx8E-1.jpeg?fit=1809%2C852&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1M1a","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":269772,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=269772","url_meta":{"origin":422912,"position":0},"title":"SNP admits to felling 16 million trees to develop wind\u00a0farms","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"27\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost 16 million trees have been chopped down on publicly owned land in Scotland to make way for wind farms, an SNP minister had admitted amid a major drive to erect more turbines.","rel":"","context":"In \"SNP\"","block_context":{"text":"SNP","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=snp"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-819.png?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-819.png?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-819.png?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-819.png?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-819.png?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":420666,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=420666","url_meta":{"origin":422912,"position":1},"title":"Scotland\u2019s biggest offshore wind farm wasting three quarters of energy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/01\/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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