Researchers said the payments were being fuelled by a high concentration of onshore wind farms in Scotland CREDIT: Ashley Cooper/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images
Wind farms have been paid to refrain from producing up to half of the electricity they are capable of generating, according to research that led MPs to warn that "inappropriate" decisions on wind power were "forcing excess costs onto consumers".
An analysis found that, in 2020, three large wind farms in Scotland were paid a total of £24.5 million to fail to produce about half of their potential output.Researchers said the "constraint payments", which are ultimately added to consumer bills, were being fuelled by a high concentration of onshore wind farms in Scotland often leaving the electricity grid unable to cope on windy days.
The Renewable Energy Foundation, a charity that publishes energy data, said the problem would continue until "until there is more than sufficient interconnection between Scotland and the centres of demand in England". The analysis comes ahead of an expected spike in electricity bills.
Craig Mackinlay, who leads the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of Conservative MPs, said the constraint payments were an example of unnecessary costs being charged to consumers.
A government spokesman insisted the payments were "not a viable income stream for onshore wind developers", but a new analysis by REF found some individual wind farms were agreeing to not produce up to half of their potential output in order to avoid overwhelming the grid.
Excess costs ‘forced onto consumers’
In one case, £7.7 million in "constraint payments" handed to the operator of a 23-turbine scheme in Scotland in 2020 led to the wind farm deliberately failing to produce 51 per cent of its potential output.
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