Hundreds of meters installed at offshore wind farms and on land across Britain are running backwards, falsely reporting energy consumption and potentially leading to annual energy bill increases of up to £100 million.
A National Energy System Operator (NESO) document, titled 'Standardisation of Power Flow Metering Polarity' and dated January, indicates that over 400 meters are misreporting their energy output. In a worst-case scenario outlined in the document, this error could result in an annual cost of £100 million for homeowners.
The document suggests that a 10 GW error, caused by these inaccurate meters, could necessitate reserves for approximately 200 hours per year. Based on an average price of £50 per megawatt-hour for system response and reserve, the recurring annual cost would amount to £100 million.
A spokesperson for NESO stated that the £100 million figure should not be presented as actual consumer costs and that the faulty meters do not pose a security issue. The energy system, they added, is operated safely and securely. NESO has implemented interim measures to mitigate the impact and is collaborating with the industry to develop a long-term solution.
Meters with this type of error are known as having a meter polarity fault. The estimated cost to rectify the issues at both offshore and land sites is reported to be a maximum of £44.1 million.
Britain operates 45 offshore wind farms in the North and Irish Seas as part of its initiative to increase green energy production. The energy regulator, Ofgem, acknowledged that while it has tools to manage meter polarity issues, these require improvement due to the evolving energy system. Ofgem is working with the industry to revise regulations and implement a more robust solution to ensure the energy system runs efficiently and keeps costs down for consumers.