UK "constraint payments", money paid to wind farms to switch off when the grid can't move their power to where it's needed, passed £1 billion in 2026, hitting that mark roughly two months earlier in the year than in 2025.

The cause, correctly identified: a transmission bottleneck. Scotland generates far more wind power than the north of the country can use, but the cables carrying it south to England's demand centres don't have enough capacity. Rather than waste the power outright, wind farms get paid to switch off, and gas plants nearer London often get switched on instead to cover the gap.

One nuance worth having: the £1 billion figure comes from independent analysis of Britain's grid operator (NESO) settlement data, not a NESO press release itself, and it's a year-to-date figure. The final 2026 total will be higher once the year finishes.

The bottom line: this is a real, serious cost, and it's a transmission-grid problem, not a wind-power problem. The turbines work fine; the wires connecting them to demand don't have enough room yet.