According to multiple reports, SSE Renewables receives constraint payments of up to £10 million annually to shut down turbines when winds are high. In 2025, the company was paid £9.86 million not to generate power at the Viking windfarm. Turbines were turned off for around 65% of the time they could have been operating, due to lack of grid capacity to transmit power to high-demand areas like southern England. On Wednesday, the windfarm was paid to turn off its turbines, requiring the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to pay gas-fired power plants instead.
The 103-turbine windfarm, which began operating in September 2024 and can power 500,000 homes, cost £580 million to build. It is connected to the Scottish mainland and UK grid by a 160-mile subsea cable, but the local grid in Shetland is not connected. As a result, the 11,706 households on the islands rely on a diesel-fired power station in Lerwick and a gas-fired power station at Sullom Voe.
It's disgraceful. SSE knew full well they would be paid, whether the wind turbines operated or not.
According to Daily Mail - News, Frank Hay, chair of the Sustainable Shetland community group, described the situation as disgraceful, saying SSE knew they would be paid whether the turbines operated or not. Roxane Permar, an artist and local resident, told the same outlet that the turbines have desecrated the landscape and are earning money for doing nothing, with very little benefit to the community. Construction of the windfarm was opposed by many locals due to its size and environmental concerns about carbon dioxide released during peat excavation.