UK power grid balancing costs surge to nearly £50 million a day amid windfarm curtailments

The National Energy System Operator incurred a near-record £47.9 million expense on a Wednesday to switch off wind farms and hydro plants totalling roughly 9 GW, while activating gas and biomass generators and purchasing electricity via subsea cables from France. The payment, including a £1.6 million half-hour charge, brought daily balancing costs close to £50 million, contributing to a September total of £505 million—the highest ever recorded.

Analysts say the surge stems from inadequate high-voltage transmission linking Scotland’s abundant wind resources to the south, a problem that the £150 billion grid modernisation programme has failed to resolve. The episode follows recent “last-resort” power imports from France and a summer heat-wave that exposed further grid fragility. LCP Delta’s head of power trading Shivam Malhotra described the situation as a classic infrastructure shortfall, while Neso’s chief executive Fintan Slye pledged lessons to be learned after a whistle-blower probe into a near-blackout. The rising costs will be passed on to household energy bills.