Moray Firth Energy

Who pays for the wind, the cables and the grid

Paid for by the public: as electricity billpayers, and as taxpayers standing behind the loans.

The cost of the UK's renewables and net zero programme, followed through the public record. It starts with the national bill and ends on one stretch of the Banffshire coast, where the cables come ashore.

Start here · the bill to the UK public

What it has cost so far, and what is still to come

£97bnpaid through electricity bills so far, at least
£12.2bnpaid each year now, equal to about £420 for every UK household (households pay part on their bills, businesses the rest)
£803bnestimated cost to the public finances to 2050-51, the OBR's central estimate (2024-25 prices; two-thirds is lost tax receipts)
0.65%the UK's share of world emissions in 2024: the UK government's figure against the UN Environment Programme's world total (0.69% for 2025 on the EU's EDGAR data)
Read the bill →
The national picture
The Moray Firth and the Banffshire coast