Letters / A terrible scandal
Thank you for your coverage of the Viking Energy (VE) constraint payments scandal.
Frank Hay’s quoted criticism of Ofgem is spot on:
“It seems ridiculous that the grid inadequacy on mainland UK was not obvious when approval of this wind farm was being considered“.
In fact, the grid inadequacy was obvious, they just ignored it.
Long highlighted by the Renewable Energy Foundation, it was raised in submissions to Ofgem’s 2020 consultation prior to approving the VE/grid connection project.
From my own submission:
“No transparent analysis has been provided of future constraint payments to Scottish wind farms. The Scotland-South interconnector links have already proved inadequate with constraint payments currently at record levels, exacerbated by repeated failures of the Western Link (Hunterston to North Wales), currently under investigation by Ofgem.
“The proposed Shetland grid link will be a single, unburied cable passing through busy shipping lanes and prolific, international fishing grounds in notoriously stormy seas. The risk of fouling, storm damage and technical failures akin to those of the Western Link is thus high.
“Adding to existing border problems with new generation on Shetland, on top of offshore wind farms already under construction, would seem ill-advised, begging the question, why would corporations invest in such remote renewable generation, behind a vulnerable link?
“Expert commentators have observed that developers are incentivised to build behind grid constraints, giving them market power to boost their income by entering high constraint bids, leading to higher income for being constrained than for actually generating.”
And here we are, today.
Presided over by so-called “consumer champion”, Ofgem, this is a terrible scandal.
It is at best woeful incompetence and at worst, conniving with power companies and all levels of government to achieve business and political goals while wasting around £1.5 billion of consumers’ money.
Constraint payments for not generating and billions more in additional, new transmission line costs will be added in due course.
All those who had a hand in it should hang their heads in shame.
John Tulloch
Aberdeen
