https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/28/wind-power-cut-uk-energy-costs-ucl-study

Reduction comes from energy generated from windfarms and lower cost of gas owing to lower demand

Wind power has cut at least £104bn from energy costs in the UK since 2010, a study has found.

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Surging renewable energy generation across Europe made demand for gas – and thus gas prices – lower than they would otherwise have been, and meant electricity companies had less need to build costly new gas-fired power stations, according to the analysis. The way that the UK’s energy market works also means gas-fired power stations are in effect allowed to set the price of electricity.

The analysis applied to 2010-23, leaving out the lingering impacts of the leap in gas prices in early 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Colm O’Shea, a former hedge fund manager, now a master’s student at UCL and lead author of the report, said: “Far from being a financial burden, this study demonstrates how wind generation has consistently delivered substantial financial benefits to the UK. To put it into context, this net benefit of £104bn is larger than the additional £90bn the UK has spent on gas since 2021 as a result of rising prices related to the war in Ukraine.

“This study demonstrates why we should reframe our understanding of green investment from costly environmental subsidy to a high-return national investment.”

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Ana Musat, the director of policy at RenewableUK, the trade body for the wind sector, said: “This research highlights the long-term economic benefits for UK plc of investing in renewable energy generation. The only way to reduce energy costs for good is to minimise our exposure to volatile global fossil fuel prices and increase the share of electricity generation from clean homegrown sources.”

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Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/28/wind-power-cut-uk-energy-costs-ucl-study dizzy: The article addresses many different issues about wind generation.