SSE was paid £2m to keep Viking Energy windfarm switched off 

The Viking Energy windfarm received more than £2 million to be switched-off, shocking new figures have revealed.

The Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) this week published data on “constraint payments” which show windfarm developers throughout the UK – mainly in Scotland – have received more than £200m this year alone.

Despite not yet being fully operational, the Viking Energy windfarm has received £2,137,687 since 2nd August, according to REF.

The staggering payments are almost as much as Viking will pay out in community benefit – for the entire year.

They are made by the Electricity System Operator (ESO) to windfarm developers during times when the amount of energy being generated exceeds the capacity of the network to transfer it where it is needed – mainly England.

But ultimately consumers are the ones who foot the bill.

REF has calculated that 78 per cent of Viking’s generating capacity has been discarded between 17th and 26th August.

On Saturday, for example, SSE estimated that the windfarm could generate 6,298MWh during the day – and they were paid not to generate 6,297MWh – almost all of it.

Viking has been hugely controversial since its inception with many people claiming it has led to the “industrialisation” of the landscape and the loss of valuable peatland.

SSE and renewables advocates have previously highlighted the windfarm’s contribution to supporting the energy transition, providing enough green energy for around 500,000 homes.

The revelation that most of its generating capacity has so far gone to waste, will do little to improve public perceptions of the development.

REF’s director John Constable said: “The generosity of constraint payments has created a perverse incentive to build in areas where there is low demand and weak grid infrastructure.

 “Due to the physically chaotic nature of wind flows, all wind farms are very large and have a highly significant detrimental effect on the often wild land areas on which they are built.

“In return for this impact, the wind farm generates a relatively small quantity of electricity, and delivers it at random in relation to market demand.

“This does not seem like a good deal either financially for the consumer, who must pay for the very high total system costs of wind power, or environmentally.”

The ESO and SSE are working to improve the infrastructure, creating additional capacity for wind power to be transmitted to where it is needed.

Projects such as the £3.4bn  Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) will see cables connecting Aberdeenshire to North Yorkshire to transport renewable energy from Scotland to England.

But Dr Constable said  such grid expansion was “very expensive and is also paid for by the consumer”.

The ESO said it was exploring a “range of options” to reduce network constraints.”

SSE said in a statement: “Which assets are constrained is a decision for the independent electricity system operator, not individual companies. 

“Ultimately, the solution to this issue is to invest in more electricity grid infrastructure so that clean energy is transported to the homes and businesses that need it. 

“At SSE, we are investing £20bn by 2030 in transmission infrastructure alone to help unlock Scotland’s renewable potential and would support reform of planning and consents to speed up delivery this essential investment.”