UK energy regulator Ofgem ordered a wind farm in Scotland to pay £5.53 million for breaching energy market rules.
Dorenell Windfarm Ltd., charged excessive prices to curb output to keep the grid balanced, which “pushed up costs for consumers,” Ofgem said in a statement.
The fine follows a Bloomberg investigation last month showing that dozens of British wind farms were overestimating their power production, adding millions of pounds a year to consumers’ electricity bills.
DWL, owned by Electricite de France, overstated generation forecasts by around 26% from 2018 through June 2023, though less in more recent months, the report found.
On blustery days, wind farms in the UK often have to turn off their turbines, or they risk overloading the country’s aging electricity network. National Grid Plc’s system operator pays energy companies for this “curtailment,” which is based on wind farms’ predictions of how much they’ll generate.
Overstating forecasts can boost what the companies receive, with consumers ultimately picking up the tab.
“DWL accepts it made an unintentional breach” of its license condition,” the company said in an emailed statement. “As a result, DWL has changed its bid pricing policy to avoid any future breaches.”
Ofgem said the company “cooperated fully” in efforts to bring the issue to a close “quickly and fairly.” It will pay into Ofgem’s Redress Fund, which helps support energy consumers in vulnerable situations, according to the regulator.
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