New analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has quantified the savings to electricity costs that wind power is delivering by offering lower day-ahead wholesale prices, which could roughly equal the support that wind farms receive from bills. [1]
Wind power is increasingly edging the more expensive gas power plants (that require gas as fuel each time they turn on) off the system, and is helping to reduce the amount of time that gas power stations set the overall price of electricity on the wholesale market. Previous analysis had found gas setting the price of electricity almost 100% of the time, [2] but this now appears to have fallen to around 85% of the time, back in the range from before the pandemic and gas crisis.
The new analysis found wind power reduced the wholesale price of electricity by up to a quarter (25%) in 2024, equivalent to around £25/MWh. This ‘hidden saving’ is the result of wind…
