Latest news with #gasplants
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Britons pay £33m to switch off wind farms during Storm Floris
British households and businesses face a £33m bill for switching off wind farms during Storm Floris despite gusts of more than 100mph. Millions were spent on 'curtailing' the output of wind farms on Monday and Tuesday because the electricity network was too congested to accept their power. At the same time, grid operators had to spend a fortune firing up gas plants elsewhere in the country to provide replacement power. The estimated total cost of this was £14.4m on Monday and £19.3m on Tuesday, according to the Wasted Wind website. Grid balancing costs of this kind go straight on to consumer bills, meaning millions of households and businesses will pick up the tab. It came despite wind speeds of more than 100mph during Storm Floris, which caused widespread disruption including power cuts in Scotland. Constraint payments, as the switch-off costs are known in industry jargon, are becoming a growing problem as wind farms connect to the electricity network faster than grid upgrades are completed. This means that during windy periods there is frequently more power being generated than the grid can handle. There are particularly critical bottlenecks between England, where demand for power is highest, and Scotland, where most of the country's wind turbines are being built. Grid operators – who must constantly match supply with demand – take action through the so-called balancing system to temporarily switch off or turn down wind farm output. However, in some cases they must also pay for replacement electricity to be generated elsewhere if switch-offs are caused by grid capacity issues. Replacement power usually comes from gas-fired power plants. In a social media post on Wednesday, Robin Hawkes, a data expert at Octopus Energy who created the Wasted Wind website, said: 'Storm Floris brought wind gusts over 70mph to parts of Scotland this week, it was also one of the most expensive periods for wind curtailment this year. 'Currently the transmission boundaries between Scotland and England don't have the capacity to transmit all the wind energy to the demand further south. 'It's like having a glass constantly filling with water and a straw that's far too small, no matter how hard you suck you just can't drink any faster and the water will overflow. 'The result is that we have to switch off a lot of wind turbines in Scotland, and pay the wind farms to do this. 'The catch is that we still need the electricity further south so we also pay gas power plants to turn on in the south to cover the lost output.' Wasted wind power has cost Britain an estimated £752m so far this year – equivalent to more than £140,000 per hour. The cost has risen from £456m over the same period in 2024. The problem is expected to get worse before it gets better, with most major grid upgrades not expected to be completed until the end of this decade or later. As a result, costs are expected to keep rising to billions of pounds in the coming years. Sam Richards, of campaign group Britain Remade, said: 'Once again, Britain has spent tens of millions of pounds switching off cheap, clean wind power and turning on expensive gas plants – all because our electricity grid is stuck in the past. 'This isn't just a technical problem; it's an economic scandal. Households and businesses are paying higher bills and clean energy is being wasted because of our failure to invest. 'We urgently need to build a modern electricity grid that can move power from where it's generated to where it's needed. 'Without action, we'll keep throwing money away every time the wind blows. It's time to fix this bottleneck and build the 21st century infrastructure Britain desperately needs.'
ABC News
13-07-2025
- General
- ABC News
Traditional custodians celebrate Murujuga win
In Western Australia's Pilbara region, traditional custodians of Murujuga are celebrating its World Heritage Listing. The Murujuga Cultural Landscape has the densest known concentration of rock art engraving in the world, some dating back 50 thousand years. It is also home to major gas and fertiliser plants and some fear the conditions attached to the World Heritage Listing won't do enough to protect the rock art.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aramco considers power asset sale to raise $4bn
Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco is considering the sale of up to five gas-fired power plants in a move that could potentially generate $4bn in revenue. The initiative forms part of a broader strategy aimed at freeing up capital and enhancing profitability for the state-owned enterprise, as reported by Reuters. These efforts are aligned with Saudi Arabia's push for Aramco to maximise its profits and increase contributions to government assets. Aramco has been exploring avenues including asset sales, efficiency improvements and cost reductions. The company's anticipated reduction in dividend payments by almost one-third in 2025 comes as lower oil prices impact earnings. Given that 81.5% of Aramco is directly owned by the state, these dividends, which encompass royalties and taxes, are crucial for government income. The scope of potential sales extends beyond just power plants; housing compounds and pipelines are also being considered for divestment according to two sources. Aramco currently owns full or partial stakes in 18 power facilities dedicated towards energising its gas operations and refineries, as stated in its 2024 financial report. Additional projects such as the Tanajib gas plant are expected, with operational commencement in 2025. These proposed asset disposals coincide with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious domestic initiatives to diversify economic reliance away from petroleum amidst fluctuating crude prices' pressures. Despite accruing a substantial a $199bn windfall from Aramco in 2024, oil revenues constituting 62% of state receipts led to a budget deficit above $30bn in 2024 projections. "Aramco considers power asset sale to raise $4bn" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
The Guardian
17-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK gas plants in line for large windfall payments to keep lights on this winter
More UK gas plants will be in line for windfall payments to help keep the lights on this winter after generators received multimillion-pound payouts last winter. Britain's energy system operator expects the UK's winter power supplies to reach their highest level in five years, in part due to a rising number of gas plants willing to generate electricity during the colder months. Gas plants are typically called on to generate electricity when wind and solar power are in short supply. During still winter periods when freezing temperatures drive demand for energy higher, they can often request large fees to fire up their generators. In early January this year, two gas power plants in Hertfordshire and Flintshire, north Wales, were paid a total of £17.8m to run their gas turbines between 4pm and 7pm when demand for electricity was forecast to reach its peak. The payouts, which were up to 100 times higher than normal market prices, ignited concerns within the industry that gas power plants were able to command excessive payments to generate power when renewable energy generation drops. They were particularly high because several generators extended their planned outages or scheduled new ones when demand was low during the mild Christmas period before a sharp turn in the weather drove demand up again. The higher number of gas plants available for the winter ahead does not necessarily mean that the power system will rely more heavily on gas power – or that record high payments will be paid to those which do run. The the National Energy System Operator (Neso) instructs which of the available power plants, batteries and renewable energy projects will generate on a given day in order to maintain a balance between supply and demand. In the winter ahead the UK will also have greater access to electricity imports after the launch of the Greenlink power cable connecting the UK grid to Ireland, and more battery power, according to the Neso. It said the extra power supply options would more than offset the expected rise in peak power demand forecast for the winter ahead compared to last year. Deborah Petterson, a director at Neso, said: 'Our early view of the winter ahead shows a positive outlook with sufficient margins throughout the colder winter months.' The system operator is also confident about energy supplies in Europe, which it found would be 'adequate' for the winter months. 'We will continue to monitor developments in global energy markets, remaining vigilant in our preparations to ensure that the resilience and reliability of the electricity network is maintained,' Petterson said. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said on Tuesday: 'We only need to look at the events in the last few days to see that we're on this rollercoaster of fossil fuels.' The government has pledged that the UK's electricity system will run on 95% low-carbon power sources by the end of the decade, with gas plants held in reserve as backup when needed. Miliband dismissed concerns that the industry would fall short of the 2030 target. He told journalists on the sidelines of an offshore wind industry conference that the target had 'always been stretching and achievable – and it is absolutely achievable'. At the same event he warned that the government would 'win this fight' against critics of Britain's net zero plan, in part by creating more offshore wind jobs in the former industrial heartlands where Reform UK has gained support. He said: 'The forces that want to take us backwards, the forces that oppose net zero, will have to reckon not just with the government. They will have to reckon with all these companies that are creating jobs.'
