When wind speeds get too strong, the electricity grid is often filled with more green energy than it actually needs.
“This creates rush hour traffic on the grid and the energy can’t get to where it’s needed,” Octopus Energy, a UK energy firm, states. “As a result, we pay to make it again – often with dirty fossil fuels – as well as paying to switch the wind off.”
Improving the grid will be the biggest help to reduce wasted electricity, but this is both expensive and complicated. Europe’s grid was originally planned around coal, and later gas – meaning it is designed to move electricity from centrally located plants.
Many wind farms are located in remote and offshore locations, meaning it is more difficult to transport the electricity they produce.