Energy Prices Drop Below Zero in UK Thanks to Record Wind-Generated Electricity | Record wind-generated electricity across Northern Ireland and Scotland Tuesday night pushed Britain’s power prices below zero.
https://www.ecowatch.com/energy-prices-below-zero-uk-wind-power.html
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From the article: Wind output peaked at a record high 22.4 gigawatts (GW), breaking the previous high set Sunday evening, the national system operator said, as Bloomberg reported. The record output provided more than 68 percent of the country’s power.
From 5:30 to 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the half-hourly price fell to 6.57 pounds per megawatt-hour, according to data from European power exchange Epex Spot.
“Setting another clean electricity generation record just four days after the previous high shows the pivotal role wind is playing in keeping the country powered up during the festive season,” said Dan McGrail, chief executive of RenewableUK, as reported by Yahoo Finance. “This is also demonstrated by today’s official figures which reveal that renewables have generated more than half our electricity for four quarters in a row.”
The record was a major reversal from last week’s low wind output when electricity was mostly supplied by gas.
The enormous fluctuations in Europe’s weather have demonstrated the challenge to governments in supplying power as the transition to renewable energy speeds up, Bloomberg reported.
When weather in the United Kingdom is cloudy or winds are calm, gas will still be used to generate electricity.
Prices for whom? Energy prices in Wales is at an all time high for consumers. Green energy is fantastic but the article is just words and statistics that don’t reflect real life in the UK
Energy generation is now a solved problem. The next part is large scale long lasting cheap storage.
As a Brit paying £144 a month for my gas and electricity bills, I look forward to seeing this price drop reflected in my next bill.
>!/s, just in case there’s any doubt!<
I have my doubts this journalist knows what they are talking about. They’ve got some very basic facts completely wrong.
There is no UK-wide electricity grid. Britain and Ireland have separate electricity grids, and Northern Ireland’s infrastructure is integrated into the Irish grid. Thus any excess wind power in Northern Ireland lowers Irish electricity prices, not British prices.
This has nothing to do with the cost of generation and everything to do with the arbitrary system setup to price electricity on supply/demand swings.