Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 21 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
The Guardian's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
The cost of balancing Great Britain’s power grid has soared to near-record highs of almost £50m a day after windfarms were turned off because of bottlenecks in transmitting power around the country.
asserted
windfarms → balance → country
The grid operator paid £47.9m on Wednesday to turn windfarms off in areas with an oversupply of electricity and turn gas plants on in areas where supplies were tight.
asserted
supplies → pay → areas
The costs, which are levied on to household energy bills, included a £1.6m payment for one half-hour period, and were some of the highest recorded since the early months of the Ukraine crisis in 2022.
asserted
which → levy → 2022
They add to the growing costs of balancing the grid, which reached a total of £505m in September alone, the highest monthly cost recorded, and are expected to reach £3.2bn over the next year.
asserted
which → add → year
The costs underline the growing concerns over the pace of Great Britain’s £150bn power networks upgrade, which is failing to keep up with new renewable energy projects being connecting to the grid.
asserted
which → underline → grid
Overall, windfarms and hydropower plants with about 9 gigawatts of capacity were paid to not generate on Wednesday, according to the consultancy LCP Delta, enough to power more than 8m typical households.
uncertain
windfarms → pay → households
Instead, the grid operator was forced to pay for a string of gas and biomass plants to fire up and bought more electricity imports from Europe via high voltage subsea power cables.
asserted
operator → force → cables
The record costs have come to light days after the National Energy System Operator (Neso) was forced to call for “last resort” emergency assistance from its counterpart in France, which agreed to send last-minute power supplies to the UK on Monday and Friday last week.
“
asserted
which → come → Monday
The system overall wasn’t tight in terms of power supplies,” said Shivam Malhotra, the head of power trading at LCP Delta.
asserted
Malhotra → say → Delta
“It’s the age-old story of a lack of infrastructure to transport power to where it’s needed, leading to lots of windfarms being turned off.
asserted
lots → ’ → windfarms
Typically, windfarms in Scotland are paid to turn off because there is not enough high voltage cabling connecting the country to areas of growing electricity demand further south.
asserted
windfarms → pay → demand
“To resolve the energy needs in the south of the country Neso had to use one of their last resorts.
asserted
Neso → resolve → resorts
It’s quite surprising for this time of year,” Malhotra said.
asserted
Malhotra → ’ → year
Neso was approached for comment.
asserted
Neso → approach → comment
During the summer Neso faced severe grid challenges when a high pressure heat dome led to a drop in renewable energy output and surging electricity demand to power air conditioning and refrigerators.
asserted
dome → face → conditioning
Neso was forced to bring in independent investigators to look into whistleblower claims that its staff were involved in a cover-up of a near-blackout during record high temperatures in late June.
uncertain
staff → force → June
The accusations, which were raised in parliament last week by the shadow energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, included claims that senior bosses at Neso were “risking blackouts to protect Neso’s reputation”.
uncertain
bosses → raise → reputation
Fintan Slye, Neso’s chief executive, told an industry conference on Wednesday that there would be “lessons to be learned” coming out of a review into that period by the industry regulator Ofgem.
asserted
Slye → tell → regulator
Asked how he thought Neso handled the situation, Slye said: “Through that period, no customers were disconnected [and] frequencies stayed within statutory limits.
asserted
frequencies → ask → limits
But undoubtedly, it was a really challenging period for the system and right across Europe we saw power systems … under strain.
asserted
systems → see → strain
“I think the control room and teams that were in it did an absolutely superb job managing what was a really difficult situation through the week.”
asserted
what → think → week
The Aporia
