All has been revealed in a court case between a rich land-owner and an electricity company.
At the heart of the dispute is an argument over so-called ‘constraint payments’. This term describes cash that is paid to wind farms to compensate them for either switching off their turbines, or reducing capacity, when the grid has become too full to take on more electricity.
The system is designed to cope with power surges during times of high wind speeds. Initially, it was rarely used.
In 2010, the first year of its existence, ‘constraint’ fees cost consumers £174,000. But as more wind farms have been built in remote areas bottlenecks in the grid have become more commonplace.
As a result, upwards of £300million a year is now being spent under the ‘constraint’ scheme, which has now cost bill-payers the grand total of £1.8billion, according to the REF.
What’s more, critics believe wind farm operators can sometimes make more, under the rules, by switching off their turbines than from making electricity.
via climate science
July 23, 2025 at 01:33AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 