As wasted wind is set to hit £650m so far this year, Octopus introduces ‘WASTED WIND TICKER’ on homepage to highlight colossal costs of broken energy system
- Octopus Energy’s homepage now features the cost to consumers of turning off wind farms on windy days – a staggering £650 million so far this year – over 50% more than this time last year
- With 12 million monthly visitors, this helps millions of British citizens better understand energy costs
- Marks the first step in exposing the projected £8 billion annual cost of balancing the energy system by 2030, with more transparency measures to come soon
London, 4th July 2025 – As the UK debates the cost of clean energy and how to manage its electricity market, it has become clear just how shockingly wasteful the system is.
For example, the UK’s biggest wind farm – Seagreen – is paid to not generate 71% of the time it could be generating. As a result, the effective cost of electricity it does generate is four times higher than it should be.
To shine a light on these huge hidden costs, Octopus has launched a live “Wasted Wind” ticker – now prominently featured on its website and visible to 12 million monthly visitors.
Octopus has proposed a new zonal pricing system to solve this, but whatever approach the government chooses will have to tackle this eyewatering waste.
The ticker reveals, in real time, how much bill payers’ money is being frittered away by an outdated energy system that can’t keep up with the clean power it generates.
“Constraint costs” – driven by wasted wind energy – are on track to cost the UK a staggering £8 billion a year by 2030*.
This year, the UK has already paid £650 million to turn off wind farms when the wind is blowing and fire up gas power plants instead – over £200 million more than the same time last year**.
Octopus was founded to drive down the cost of energy as we go green, but this is only possible if we update the market to work in a renewable world. Customers are told that renewables are cheaper, but they’ve seen the opposite in their bills, and initiatives like this will help explain why.
This marks the first step in Octopus’ work to highlight Britain’s energy waste. Soon, this information will be added to the 7.5 million bills sent every month and will feature in its app, used by 500,000 people daily. Additional information breaking down more details on the costs of waste, and where customers’ money goes, will be added shortly.
Pete Miller, Octopus Energy’s Head of Customer Experience, said: “It’s crazy to build wind farms where there’s no grid, then pay them to sit idle, and then pay the most expensive fossil fuel plants to generate the power instead.
“Octopus was clear with customers that the energy crisis was caused by the cost of gas, and now we need to be clear that high electricity prices are the cost of a broken energy system.”
The ticker can be found here on Octopus’ website.
It comes as Octopus Energy and FTI release a report showing zonal pricing could save bill payers up to £27 billion by reducing the need for nearly 3,000km of new power lines, minimising environmental and community disruption while lowering electricity costs.
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About Octopus Energy Group
Octopus Energy is a global clean energy tech business, driving the affordable, green energy system of the future. Under its own retail brand, Octopus delivers world-class customer service and cutting edge energy products to over 9 million households globally. Its operations span 32 countries and the entire energy value chain. The group invests in, builds and flexibly manages renewable energy, operating a £7 billion portfolio of projects.
Octopus has licensed its advanced data and machine learning platform, Kraken, to support over 60 million customer accounts worldwide through licensing deals with companies such as EDF, E.ON and Origin Energy. Kraken enables Octopus to drive the electrification of heat and transport through smart tariffs and innovative cleantech. Backed by pension funds, investors and energy giants, Octopus Energy Group businesses deliver cheaper, greener energy and cutting-edge tech to countries and customers worldwide. For more information, check out our website.
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