Mmastodon EnvironmentEnergy first seen 2 d ago, last 22 min ago, peak #1
Britain paid windfarms 9GW to switch off as gas filled in
Original: "Overall, windfarms and hydropower plants with about 9 gigawatts of capacity were paid to not generate on Wednesday..eno
On Wednesday, grid operators paid windfarms and hydropower plants with around 9 gigawatts of combined capacity to stop generating — enough to power more than 8 million typical households — while instead paying gas and biomass plants to fire up and buying additional power. The apparent constraint mismatch between clean generation and grid capacity is drawing criticism that consumers are paying twice: once for unused renewable electricity and again for fossil backup.
Why now: People are frustrated that curtailment payments to renewables, plus extra gas costs, are being passed to energy bills while clean power goes to waste.
National Grid ESOwindfarmshydropower plantsgas power plantsbiomass plants
Evidence
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