You could be forgiven for thinking the latest story about Britain’s wobbling energy market is meant to provide yet more ammo for the insurgent forces setting themselves against net zero. The news that we have spent £1bn just to turn off excess wind farm capacity so far this year – and that this number is only going to grow – certainly implies that it’s the wind farms that are in danger of bankrupting UK PLC. Down with this sort of thing.
Actually, though, that £1bn bill stems not from the fact wind power is bad but because it’s too good. According to The Times, “most of the cost comes from paying gas-fired power plants to fire up to cover for wind turbines that have to be turned off because of” – here comes the kicker – “insufficient cabling capacity”. As more wind power has come on stream, more capacity to transport it to actual people hasn’t. That, thanks to Britain’s esoteric energy market, means we’re now paying renewable energy suppliers in rural areas to switch off (so as not to overload the network), and fossil fuels nearer actual people to switch on (because we still need the power). And the more turbines we have, the more that bill will go up. Oops.
These figures come from the Wasted Wind website supported by Octopus Energy, which is currently lobbying the government to end this madness by replacing national energy pricing with a more regional scheme. For those without such skin in the game, though, this mess provides proof of a much simpler thesis: that Britain has lost the ability to build the infrastructure it needs to function.
