It has been reported that Offshore Wind Farms were paid £1bn this year to switch off! This is because the National Grid is not able to cope with their output. This additional cost is being borne by consumers and businesses – so it no wonder we have one of the most expensive electricity systems in the world.
The reason for this is that more and more Wind Farms are being built (more are due to come on stream soon) when the Grid is incapable of coping with the surges of power that these generate. Surely it would make more sense to delay commissioning more Wind Farms until the grid is developed so that it can take their output – but that is not the policy being followed!
The UK Government’s own electricity operator NESO has estimated that unless things change the cost of switching off Wind Farms (and not generating electricity) will reach £6bn per year by 2030
MABRAKE - Milton Abbot, BRadstone And KElly Action group. 
All,
The worst issue is that the politicians incl Ed Milliband is wrong when they/he state reaching near full reliance on green energy will keep electricity prices down. That is not the case. It shows ideology is pursued in preference to simple truths and/or incompetence. The market works differently and can not be manipulated. In addition massive electricity storage will be required for times when green power is not available. There is no information how this is going to be achieved. Countries who have tried to rely on green energy (to 80% or more) such as Norway, Brazil, New Zealand have found this at cost.
To enforce purchase of electric cars will only make things worse and they are not even ‘green’ (in manufacturing).
Interesting times are awaiting us all particularly the luvvies in the labour party.
Our only hope is that the other parties watch and learn but that may be asking too much…
Magnus
Nothing that this collection of net zero fanatics gets up to would surprise me. As an engineer I can tell you that there are better and cheaper alternatives on the horizon. But neither Government or Whitehall want to know; and Whitehall especially is doing everything that they can to stop it. An amalgam of total madness and civil service mandarins putting the interests of the civil service before those of the country.
Michael Penn