They accounted for more than one-quarter of all Scottish wind farms
receiving ‘constraint’ payments for zero energy output, new figures show.
According to the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), a lion’s share of such
payments to UK wind energy suppliers found its way north of the border last
year.
Of the £307.2m total for the whole of Britain, the National Grid
Electricity System Operator (National Grid ESO) paid a record £275.3m to a
total of 86 Scottish generators.
The Highlands led the pay-out league in terms of wind farm numbers, with 22
sites across the region getting payments totalling £67.8m.
Top of the constraint payments league table in the area is SSE Renewables’
66-turbine Stronelairg wind farm, near Fort Augustus, which received nearly
£11.6m.
But the two biggest earners in Scotland were both offshore.
Moray East wind farm, a 100-turbine development in the Cromarty Firth,
received nearly £43m for machines delivering no energy.
And the 114-turbine Seagreen scheme off the coast of Angus earned
constraint payments totalling nearly £40m.
An onshore wind farm, Clyde, near Abington in South Lanarkshire, comes in
third at nearly £16.9m.
Stronelairg raked in the fourth highest total last year.
Meanwhile, Dorenell, in Moray, and offshore development Beatrice earned
£9.3m and £9.1m respectively.
Other multi-million-pound earners include Griffin, near Aberfeldy,
Perthshire, which received nearly £4.6m.
Mid Hill, a 33-turbine development in Fetteresso Forest south-west of
Aberdeen, was paid £2.3m.
Graham Lang, of pressure group Scotland Against Spin, said: ‘It has been
known for some years that the Scottish Government has been consenting
onshore wind farms far beyond local demand for electricity.
‘The latest data shows Scotland has 15.3 gigawatts (GW) of operational,
under construction and consented wind farms. There’s another 7.5GW
currently seeking consent – total 22.8GW – yet Scotland only consumes on
average 3.6GW of electricity.’
Mr Lang added: ‘Wind farms have to be turned off, resulting in constraint
payments.
‘More than a quarter of wind farms in receipt of those payments are in the
Highlands. Areas with low demand and weak grid connectivity can encourage
operators to take advantage of constraint payments by constructing more
wind farms.
‘It is the consumer who is paying for constraint payments via higher
electricity prices.
The latest estimate is that it is costing every homeowner £40 per year to
turn off wind farms in Scotland.
‘It is a ridiculous waste of money. It makes no sense at all for the
Scottish Government to keep awarding consent for more wind farms.’
He continued: ‘They need less maintenance and repair if they’re not turning
and idle.
‘Maintenance is very costly. Better to get paid for doing nothing.’
‘Constrained’ wind farm operators may also continue to sell energy to the
National Grid via battery energy storage systems, Mr Lang said.
He added: ‘It is a bloated subsidy system, being farmed by developers and
operators.’
We can fix this, says SSE
SSE Renewables is one of the partners behind the giant Seagreen
development, Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm.
A spokesman for its parent company, Perth-based SSE, said: ‘Constraint
payments are made when the energy being produced in one part of the country
can’ get to another because there simply isn’t the capacity to carry it.
‘We can fix this with policies that speed up investment in electricity
networks and energy storage technologies, such as pumped hydro storage, so
we can get the most out of our enviable renewable resources.’
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