UK Set to Spend £1.8 Billion as Wind Power Overwhelms Grid
- Britain faces rising costs of power grid constraints
- Growing wind farm capacity is overwhelming UK’s aging grid
Wind turbines at the Little Cheyne wind farm near Camber, UK.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
British consumers are set to spend over £1.8 billion on payments to help manage the power grid in 2025 as maintenance limits how much renewable electricity can move from Scotland to cities in England this year.
The rising cost to balance the supply and demand of power represents a challenge to the British government as it seeks to rapidly ramp up the supply of wind energy and also bring down electricity bills for consumers. Even as the share of wind in the UK’s power mix rises, limits of the grid and the structure of Britain’s electricity market mean there are increasing costs to keep the lights on.