Scandal of UK blowing £1bn on turning off turbines

News that UK energy billpayers have spent a record £1 billion this year to switch off turbines in high winds is scandalous, said Midlands green energy expert Ron Fox.

He was commenting on Britain’s electricity operator this month paying £1.3 million to wind farm operators as compensation for lost revenue after being ordered to switch off the turbines to avoid overloading the National Grid.

At the same time the grid operator had to pay £4.9 million in October to buy energy from abroad and switch on expensive gas- powered generation to meet demand.

So far this year the combined costs of buying energy from abroad and generating power using gas is a record £1 billion, or the equivalent to £34 per household. This is compared to £734 million at the same time last year.

“The total amount of ‘lost energy’ was enough to power the whole of London for a day,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park. “It is outrageous that the reason for this is because Britain’s out-of-date transmission network cannot cope with the amount of renewable energy being generated during times of high winds.”

He said the problem is that wind farms, many located in Scotland, cannot operate at full capacity because the grid does not have the infra structure to move the power generated to the urban areas of the country where it is most needed.

The UK’s current energy system turns off wind turbines, even when they’re spinning fast and generating a lot of cheap, clean energy. This is known as wind curtailment. It’s a way of making sure that this electricity doesn’t overload power lines in certain areas—like Scotland— when the wind is blowing really hard.

National Grid is investing £35 billion in transmission lines in the next six years, including sub-sea cables to bring electricity from Scotland to England.

But the concern in Whitehall is that as more turbines come online, so called wind curtailment payments will continue to rise with some estimates they could exceed £4 billion annually because of the rapid connection of renewable generation outstripping the pace of new transmission network capacity.

The political worries are that the government has promised to bring down energy bills at the same time as eliminating fossil fuels from the grid by 2030.

“If there’s one thing the UK can rely on, it’s wind,” concluded Ron. “We may not love it when it’s blowing a gale, but the UK’s constant breeze is brilliant news for green energy, industry and householders. Rather than letting that green energy go to waste, we should put it to good use with the Government needing to invest more in supporting the National Grid and the wind turbine industry.”

For those wanting more advice about supplying or upgrading wind turbines call Ron on 0845 474 6641 or go to www.noreus.co.uk.

Caption: Blowing up a storm – UK energy billpayers have spent a record £1 billion this year to switch off turbines in high winds.