UK Pays Wind Farms $1.3 Billion To Shut Down When It’s Windy

Written by Tyler Durden on December 20, 2024. Posted in Current News

The ‘clean green’ energy fiasco has reached a new level of incompetence and waste

Totally Wasted Wind Power

Bloomberg reports UK Is Paying £1 Billion to Waste a Record Amount of Wind Power

Burgeoning capacity and blustery weather should have driven huge growth in output in 2024. But the grid can’t cope, forcing the operator to pay wind farms to turn off, a cost ultimately borne by consumers. It’s a situation that puts at risk plans to decarbonize the network by 2030 and makes it harder to cut bills.

Crucial to the net zero grid target is a massive build-out of renewable power, particularly from wind. Britain has boosted its offshore fleet by 50% in the past five years and is set to double it in the next five, Bloomberg data show.

But the grid hasn’t expanded at the same pace. As a result, the operator is increasingly paying wind farms, particularly those in Scotland, not to run. So far this year, the UK has spent more than £1 billion ($1.3 billion) in “congestion costs” to turn off plants that can’t deliver electricity because of grid constraints, and switch on others.

Last month for example, when Storm Bert swept across the UK, some of its newest and biggest wind parks were still. Scotland’s £3 billion Seagreen project, owned by SSE Plc and TotalEnergies SE, was shut off. SSE’s Viking development on the Shetland Islands was also closed.

Wind vs Gas

UK generators usually sell output in advance on the wholesale market. But those transactions don’t take into account the physical limitations of balancing supply and demand in real time. To keep the lights on, the operator steps in, paying some plants to turn off and others that are closer to demand centers to fire up.

Often, this means shutting off a far-flung wind farm and starting up a gas-fed plant that’s closer to a city.

Absurd Setup

“It’s absurd that Britain pays Scottish wind farms to turn off when it’s windy, while simultaneously paying gas-power stations in the south to turn on,” said Clem Cowton, director of external affairs at supplier Octopus Energy Group.

I don’t believe we need an energy director to diagnose the complete absurdity of this arrangement.

Which of These Headlines Are Real?

1. Southern Wife Arrested for Failing to Serve Drinks in Mason Jars
2. UK Pays Wind Farms $1.3 Billion to Shut Down When It’s Windy
3. FBI Warns Kash Appointment Could Jeopardize Efforts to Not Release Epstein List
4. Trump Renews Relations with Castro Regime

It is sometimes very difficult to distinguish between real and fake headlines.

In the above list, only number 2 is real. The others are from the Babylon Bee.

Wind Losses Are Huge

• General Electric (GE): GE’s offshore wind business expects to lose about $1 billion in 2023 and 2024. This is due to a number of challenges, including:
  • Inflation
  • High interest rates
  • Supply chain bottlenecks
  • Rising costs for components
• Siemens: Lost nearly $1 billion on wind last year
• Vestas: Saw an operating profit decline of 369 percent
• Increased costs: Commodity prices, including for steel and copper, have increased, as well as construction and operating costs
• Regulatory process: The regulatory process takes about six years, while other countries are building projects at a faster pace
• Lawsuits and disinformation: Lawsuits from advocacy groups and disinformation campaigns from astroturfing groups have slowed development

See more here zerohedge.com

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