Wind farms paid to cease energy production - 03/05/2011
Residents in Scotland wishing to switch energy tariffs might have heard that wind farms in the country are being offered money to turn off their turbines.
The Press and Journal reports that National Grid paid out six-figure sums to six renewable energy projects to cease energy generation for a few hours between April 5th and 6th, in order to reduce the amount of excess power being produced.
Energy suppliers were paid £900,000 altogether to stop operations for a small period of time, the research from the Renewable Energy Foundation revealed.
Lee Moroney, planning director at the organisation, told the newspaper: "The variability of wind power poses grid management problems for which there are no cheap solutions.
"However, throwing the energy away, and paying wind farms handsomely for doing so, is not only costly but obviously very wasteful," he pointed out.
Meanwhile, British Gas owner Centrica has threatened to close down a gas field in the North Sea following a profit raid by the government.
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