Households hit with higher bills in £1bn ‘racket’ that sees wind farms paid to turn off power (UK)
Source: defenestrate_urself
Households hit with higher bills in £1bn ‘racket’ that sees wind farms paid to turn off power (UK)
Source: defenestrate_urself
3 Comments
> But speaking to The Independent, Greg Jackson, the founder and chief executive of Octopus Energy, said insufficient infrastructure to carry electricity produced by wind farms is forcing them to shut down, which is adding costs to consumers.
> It is because the National Energy System Operator (Neso) pays wind farms for the amount of energy they would have created when off they have to shut down, and then has to shell out on alternative energy sources, such as from gas-powered stations, to fill the gap on the national network.
So the capacity and the demand are there but poor transmission infrastructure means, the UK can’t handle all the power that wind can potentially generate but the windfarms are paid for this capacity they are not allowed to utilise.
At the same time, that demand is met via gas powerstations and effective you are paying twice for each unit of energy. Once to the windfarm not to generate it, a second time to the gas powerstation to generate it.
The problem isnt wind power itself, but the fact that the modern grid system was designed for inflexible demand and supply back in the 1950s, the system itself should be updated to make way for the new reality.
>It would mean the cost of energy in Scotland, where the majority of wind farms are, could fall dramatically, while the prices would likely increase in south-east England
>But the idea was rejected in July by energy secretary Ed Miliband in favour of retaining a single national wholesale price,
Perish the thought that Scotland gets a leg up over England, and an English energy secretary should implement that?