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UK Energy: Built Backwards — The Engineering Failure No One Admits
The UK spends billions every year on its green energy system — yet a surprising amount of that money goes toward not producing electricity.
This video breaks down the engineering reality behind constraint payments, wasted wind energy, grid bottlenecks, and the financial framework that makes all of it possible.
No drama.
No shouting.
Just a clear, evidence-based explanation of how the system works and why it’s costing households far more than most people realise.

What this video covers
1. The scale of wasted power
Since 2021, over £1.5 billion has been paid out in constraint payments — public money used to pay generators not to produce electricity. These shutdowns happen because the grid cannot handle the power being generated, especially during high winds.
2. Why Scotland generates most of the wind but sees most of the shutdowns
Scotland holds around 40% of UK wind capacity but receives 95% of constraint events.
It’s a simple bottleneck: powerful generation meets a transmission system that cannot move the energy south.
3. The storage deficit that almost no one talks about
To safely integrate large amounts of wind power, the UK would need around 100 TWh of energy storage.
What we actually have is less than 0.1 TWh.
The gap is not small — it’s system-breaking.
4. Why gas remains the backbone of stability
Gas stations provide frequency control, inertia, and fast-response backup — functions wind and solar cannot replace today.
They are the quiet stabilisers that prevent blackouts when wind output drops.
5. Following the money
Developers receive guaranteed prices, financial protection, and in some cases payments when they are not generating. Large investment funds treat renewable projects as low-risk financial products because revenue is secured through consumer bills.
Public bills carry environmental and policy levies between £170 and £220 each year — costs created by system imbalance and the need for constant correction.
6. What an engineer’s plan would actually look like
An engineering-led system would reverse the build order:
Grid first — expand transmission before adding new wind capacity


Storage second — create the ability to absorb variation


Stable baseload third — nuclear, pumped hydro, reliable supply


Renewables last — on top of a system able to support them


You build the roads before building the factories — not the other way round.

Why this matters
The current setup meets policy targets but doesn’t solve the engineering challenge.
Physics doesn’t bend for budgets or slogans, and the consequences are now visible in rising bills, wasted energy, and increasing system stress.
This video isn’t political commentary — it’s a clear, factual look at how the system is designed and why it behaves the way it does.
For the full 14-minute podcast discussion, including additional detail on storage, stability, and investment models, see the Spotify version.

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