Britain’s Skyrocketing Green Energy Prices are Forcing Internet Providers to Ration Access

Should take my own advice and ignore trolls.

But the simple one line answer to this nonsense is: look at the latest UK Contract for Difference pricing. Gas is not the problem. The problem is the cost of wind and solar.

But its also not simply the cost of generation. Its also all the other costs associated with trying to use wind and solar generation, like transmission from the north coast of Scotland to the UK Midlands and South East. And the constraint payments. And the other part of the system, the gas plant. Which is commonly but quite wrongly referred to as ‘backup’. Its not backup at all, its the basis of the system. Current systems using wind and solar are best seen as hybrids, based on gas, but where supplementary wind and solar have been added in the effort to reduce fuel costs. Or something. Maybe to please the Weather Gods?

If trying to use wind and solar, you have to have a parallel gas system in addition – its the only technology which can be flexed to accommodate the fluctuating weather. Then you have to pay constraint payments when the weather produces peak output and there is no demand.

[You could do without constraint payments and only pay for what you can use, but the result would be that the CfD prices would rise. Because what the CfD and constraint payment regime is covering up is that the capacity factor of both is far lower than is being reported. Get realistic about production, and billable hours will fall and so the price will have to rise to generate returns for the operators.]

Then you have to build an expensive new transmission network which is only needed because you built your wind farms where there is no demand, like off the north coast of Scotland..

Add it all up and gas price volatility is a far smaller problem – especially because you cannot get away from using gas anyway. In fact, running the gas part of the mix intermittently its not clear you can even reduce gas consumption.

If you want to know what the real problem with this is? Its not technology at all, its human stupidity, and a political elite incapable of connected thought and with no exposure to business or engineering discipline.