UK Is Paying £1 Billion to Waste a Record Amount of Wind Power
- Britain faces mounting costs from overwhelmed electricity grid
- Constraints on network could jeopardize decarbonization plans
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It’s set to be a record year for wind power in the UK, at least in terms of how much goes to waste.
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.