Britain Pays the Price for Grid Inefficiencies as Wind Farm Shutdowns Top £500 Million

[Social Media]

 

Britain Pays the Price for Grid Inefficiencies as Wind Farm Shutdowns Top £500 Million

 

Britain has spent more than half a billion pounds this year switching off wind farms to prevent overloading its outdated power grid, spotlighting an urgent and growing issue in the country’s transition to renewable energy. Known as “curtailment,” this process occurs when wind farms are ordered to stop generating electricity because the current infrastructure lacks the capacity to transport the power where it's needed. So far in 2025, curtailment has cost the country an astonishing £503 million.

 

On just one day this week, grid operators paid £6 million to switch off turbines, while an additional £10 million was spent to bring gas-fired power stations online as backup, according to data from the energy-tracking site Wasted Wind. These combined costs – £16 million in a single day – underscore the broader inefficiencies of a power system struggling to adapt to rapid changes in energy production.

 

The situation has worsened since last year, when curtailment costs totaled £347 million over the same period. The nearly 45% increase in just one year highlights how ill-equipped the national grid is to handle the rising output from renewable sources, especially wind. These costs do not simply vanish—they are passed on to consumers, with households and businesses footing the bill through their electricity payments. On average, these shutdowns are costing the country around £3.3 million per day, or roughly £136,000 every hour.

 

With the problem deepening, the UK Government is under growing pressure to reform the electricity market. One controversial proposal under consideration involves restructuring the national energy market into regional or zonal systems. In such a system, areas would pay different electricity rates depending on their local supply and demand. For Scotland, where many wind farms are located and oversupply is a frequent problem, payments for excess energy would be drastically reduced. However, consumers in regions like London, southern England, and the Midlands – which rely more heavily on imported electricity due to fewer local renewable resources – would likely face higher bills.

 

The Seagreen offshore wind farm in the North Sea, Scotland’s largest facility of its kind, is one example of the waste associated with curtailment. Last year, it was inactive for nearly three-quarters of its scheduled operating time due to grid congestion.

 

Energy companies such as Scottish Power and SSE have voiced concern that market reforms, while potentially solving short-term grid issues, could undermine the financial predictability necessary for long-term investment. “Uncertainty in revenue models could stall critical decisions on new renewable projects,” industry leaders argue. Without continued investment, the UK may fall short of its 2030 target to achieve a clean electricity system – a goal that depends on the rapid deployment of additional renewable energy capacity.

 

Responding to the mounting criticism, a spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero stated, “The National Energy System Operator’s independent report shows we can achieve clean power by 2030 with cheaper electricity, even factoring in constraint payments. Through our clean power action plan, we will work with industry to rewire Britain, upgrade our outdated infrastructure to get renewable electricity on the grid and minimise constraint payments.”

 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the National Energy System Operator emphasized their commitment to cost efficiency, saying, “Neso takes its role to deliver a safe, secure and reliable national electricity network at least cost to consumers, extremely seriously. We are constantly looking for new ways to reduce costs associated with balancing electricity supply and demand on a second-by-second basis, as these costs are passed on to consumers in their electricity bill.”

 

As Britain accelerates its energy transition, the challenge now lies in ensuring that infrastructure upgrades keep pace with renewable investment—before consumers and climate goals are left paying the price.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Telegraph  2025-06-06

 

 

[JonnyF]

5 hours ago, Social Media said:

These costs do not simply vanish—they are passed on to consumers, with households and businesses footing the bill through their electricity payments. On average, these shutdowns are costing the country around £3.3 million per day, or roughly £136,000 every hour.

 

Of course. That's why energy prices are through the roof and people cannot afford to heat their homes. Especially the pensioners that Starmer left out in the cold when he cut their fuel allowance. But they don't care, they get allowances for their mutiple residences so the pensioners can freeze for all they care. 

 

Plus, how ugly are those things? I bet there's a pile of dead birds at the bottom of each one. Great way to ruin the countryside. 

 

Time to ditch this Net Zero folly. It sounds good as you quaff Champers at your Islington dinner party but it's totally impractical. 

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

 

Of course. That's why energy prices are through the roof and people cannot afford to heat their homes. Especially the pensioners that Starmer left out in the cold when he cut their fuel allowance. But they don't care, they get allowances for their mutiple residences so the pensioners can freeze for all they care. 

 

Plus, how ugly are those things? I bet there's a pile of dead birds at the bottom of each one. Great way to ruin the countryside. 

 

Time to ditch this Net Zero folly. It sounds good as you quaff Champers at your Islington dinner party but it's totally impractical. 

You did read the article?:

 

The root problem is the national grid, not the sources of power feeding the grid.

 

8 hours ago, Social Media said:

Britain has spent more than half a billion pounds this year switching off wind farms to prevent overloading its outdated power grid, spotlighting an urgent and growing issue in the country’s transition to renewable energy.

 

 

[JonnyF]

31 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You did read the article?:

 

Correct.

 

31 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

 

The root problem is the national grid, not the sources of power feeding the grid.

 

 

Correct. I did not suggest otherwise. Another failed strawman Chomps. 😄

 

My point which you appear to have missed was that the problem leads to higher energy prices which are then passed onto consumers. Did you read the article? Maybe it was too long for you, so just try to reach the end of the following sentence. Good girl...

 

8 hours ago, Social Media said:

These costs do not simply vanish—they are passed on to consumers, with households and businesses footing the bill through their electricity payments.

 

[nauseus]

Perhaps more money should have been spent on upgrading the grid so that it could handle input from all types of generators before planting so many of these windmills? Just a thought.

[RayC]

1 hour ago, nauseus said:

Perhaps more money should have been spent on upgrading the grid so that it could handle input from all types of generators before planting so many of these windmills? Just a thought.

 

Agreed.

 

There has been a lack of investment in the  infrastructure by National Grid since privatisation. The same is true in France, which was one of the reasons why they renationalised EDF. Unfortunately, due to our current financial constraints, it's not really an option for the UK at this time.

[Red Forever]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You did read the article?:

 

The root problem is the national grid, not the sources of power feeding the grid.

 

 

 

No he didn’t. He jumped in with both feet as usual and made an @rse of himself.

 The far right climate change deniers must have got a collective boner when reading (what they thought was a critique of wind farms) in the Torygraph when in fact the problem is with the National Grid.

Given time we will reach net zero.

 I note that there’s no nett cost in this 500million debit i.e. there’s no mention of the cost savings in energy generated by these wind farms .

Sloppy Tory biased “reporting “.

[SunnyinBangrak]

I shouldn't. It's mean. But I can't help it. I TOLD YOU SO🤣😅

[Nick Carter icp]

4 hours ago, JonnyF said:

 

Correct.

 

 

Correct. I did not suggest otherwise. Another failed strawman Chomps. 😄

 

My point which you appear to have missed was that the problem leads to higher energy prices which are then passed onto consumers. Did you read the article? Maybe it was too long for you, so just try to reach the end of the following sentence. Good girl...

 

 

 

   Johhny : Are you the far right climate change denier who got a boner this morning ?

   (As referred to above)

[GanDoonToonPet]

Teething troubles. People complain when renewables don't produce enough power and, as here, complain when they produce too much power. What's needed is for the grid to be modernised and more storage options to be available.

[Quentin Zen]

One big bird-killer machine.  I've heard stories.

[newbee2022]

10 minutes ago, Quentin Zen said:

One big bird-killer machine.  I've heard stories.

Don't believe "stories" but facts instead.👍

[BritManToo]

7 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You did read the article?:

 

The root problem is the national grid, not the sources of power feeding the grid.

 

 

 

Why generate it if you can't use it?

Billions in grants to wind farms too far from the grid.

[Mike_Hunt]

7 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You did read the article?:

 

The root problem is the national grid, not the sources of power feeding the grid.

 

 

 

Sounds like they put the cart before the horse. 

[CG1 Blue]

10 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Plus, how ugly are those things? I bet there's a pile of dead birds at the bottom of each one. Great way to ruin the countryside. 

Yep, these wind farms and all the fields full of solar panels are destroying biodiversity - they're not environmentally friendly at all. 

Same as this rush to build millions of new houses to accommodate the population swell from immigration. Concreting over more countryside. 

 

The same people calling for more houses, more wind farms and more solar farms also call themselves environmentalists 🤦‍♂️ You couldn't make it up

[Watawattana]

I was involved in the wind farm industry in the 00's.  I quickly came to realise that it was nothing other than a corrupt money generating scheme for big companies and consultants, all under the banner of "green" energy.  A wedding of lefties & right wing corruption and greed.  All whilst knowing the National Grid, privatised by the Conservatives, had no plans or encouragement to ensure the Grid could support this alternate power source.  Another shambolic privatisation that neither was nor is in the interest of the United Kingdom.

 

So, did I do the honourable thing?  Of course not; I helped my company to win £10ms of revenue off the back of the leftie green lobby and the right wing vultures, which of course earned me a decent amount of money.

 

What about turbines killing birds?  Yes, of course they do.  So why not ban them?  The reality is that window collisions and cats kill more birds than wind farms do.  Ban both of those?  Rubbish.  Doesn't mean the issue isn't real and shouldn't be taken seriously. I read that scientists are testing a range of technologies to reduce bird strikes, e.g. painting stripes.  Hope they find a decent solution.

[Quentin Zen]

12 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

Don't believe "stories" but facts instead.👍

But wind turbines can have significant environmental impacts, particularly on birds. In 2021, the American Bird Conservancy estimated that collisions with wind turbines in the United States killed about 1.17 million birds that year, a fact often cited by wind power opponents