By Ewan McQueen

An energy company which is hoping to build 31 turbines on the Hadyard Hill
site has taken in over £6.5 million in constraint payments over the last
four years.

Scottish and Southern Energy is set to hold public exhibitions in Barr,
Dailly and Crosshill at the beginning of next month to allow locals to
discuss the plans for the windfarm extension which is one of the largest in
the Carrick area.

Constraint payments are paid to windfarm operators when the National Grid
can’t accomodate the energy the turbines are producing.

And since April 1 2011, when SSE first reecived constraint payments in
relation to the Hadyard Hill site they have pocketed a whopping £6,553,467
including £716,593 so far in 2015 alone.

John Constable, director of the Renewable Energy Foundation, who supplied
the data said: “Constraint payments to onshore wind power in Scotland are
little short of a scandal.

“The prices charged are too high, and the industry seems unwilling to mend
their behaviour.

“Indeed, on the contrary, when they have a wind farm that is earning rich
rewards from constraint payments they seem determined to extend that wind
farm and cash in still further.

“Consumers are getting a very raw deal, and neither government nor the
regulator is lifting a finger to protect them.”

The Gazette first reported on Hadyard Hill’s constraint payements last
month when SSE earned £495,144 during the first two weeks of the year.

Payments on single days in January topped £80,000 on four separate
occasions whilst February 15 saw SSE paid £52,263 and on February 18 they
were paid £57,901.

However, Michael Rieley of Scottish Power Renewables points out that
constraint payments made to windfarm operators are only part of the overall
picture.

He said: “Constraint payments are not a new phenomenon or one restricted
only to windfarms.

“They are a normal part of the overall efficient management of our
electricity system, given the limitations of the UK’s aging energy
infrastructure.

“National Grid pays a variety of technologies to reduce or increase output
as required to help balance the system, and the constraint costs of
windfarms account for only a small proportion of the overall payments.

“Overall, delivering a modern electricity network capable of getting power
generated to customers must be a priority over the coming years. However,
in some cases constraints will be cheaper than further investment in the
transmission network ­ the cost of which would be passed on to the consumer.”

At the start of 2015, other windfarm operators in the Carrick area were
also the recipients of contraint payments.

Scottish Power renewables were paid £306,131 in constraint payments from
the Arecleoch wind farm near Barrhill as well as £67,929 in payments from
the nearby Markhill wind farm which they also operate.

On the first two days of 2015, the company were paid £56,684 and £82,230
respectively as a result of the National Grid being unable to accommodate
the energy being produced by the 60 turbine wind farm near the village.


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