The madness of the UK's energy system is summed up in the £55m paid to wind farm operators in the last couple of months to cease generation (temporarily) because the energy interconnection (distribution) system was unable to handle the electricity transfer from generation to use; at the same time £217m was paid (mainly to gas-based generators) to make up the shortfall in renewable energy the congested network caused.
The network build-out needs to be accelerated!
#energy
h/t Observer
That's about the same situation in Germany: Compensations are paid to renewable energy producers when the power grid is not able to process their production - because the expansion of the grid was delayed for like decades.
The latest fix for this issue by our conservative government is to speed up the power grid enhancement … wait, just kidding … the planned fix is to scrap these compensations for new projects to force renewables (esp. wind) to plan around available grid capacity.
I nearly forgot it: "the renewable energy sector is to pay fees, depending on the region and the stage of grid expansion, to ensure that its plants are connected to the grid".
Historically consumers had to pay fees for their grid connection. But according a new draft bill renewables'll have to pay fees for their grid connection too.
I mean, the same infrastructure renewables have to pay for in future was provided for fossiles by the state for decades.
https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/energie/reform-ausbau-erneuerbare-energien-100.html
Emeritus Prof Christopher May
Sepia Fan