Paid for by the public: as electricity billpayers, and as taxpayers standing behind the loans.
Every pound behind the wind farms, cables and grid in the Moray Firth is recovered from electricity bills, one way or another. None of these companies is a charity: costs and profit both come back from customers. Taxpayers come in through government guarantees on the borrowing. This page sets out each route the money takes, what can be checked, and what is kept from public view.
Each farm sells its electricity at the market price. Suppliers buy it and pass the cost on in the unit rateThe price charged per unit of electricity used, the main component of most household and business electricity bills. more › on every bill.
When the market price is below a farm's agreed contract priceThe fixed price per unit of electricity that a wind farm is guaranteed under its subsidy contract. more ›, billpayersAnyone who pays an electricity bill. Most of the costs on this site are recovered this way, not from taxes. more › pay the difference through a levyA charge added to suppliers' costs, which they pass on in bills, to fund things like the Contracts for Difference subsidy. more › on suppliers. When it is above, the farm pays back. Beatrice's contract price is now £205.70/MWhUnits of electrical power (MW) and energy (MWh, GWh): power is a rate, energy is power delivered over time. more ›; Moray East's is £82.34/MWh. Beatrice has received £1.44bn this way since 2018. Across GB the top-ups came to £2.64bn in 2025.
When the grid can't carry the power south, the system operatorThe National Energy System Operator, the body that keeps Great Britain's electricity grid balanced minute by minute. more › pays generators to stop. GB balancing costsWhat the system operator spends keeping electricity supply and demand matched second by second, including constraint payments. more › were £2.7bn in 2024/25, of which thermal constraint costsMoney paid to a generator to switch off, or reduce output, because the grid cannot carry all the power it is producing. more › were £1.7bn.
The cables and converter stationsA large facility that converts electricity between the direct current used by a subsea cable and the alternating current used by the onshore grid. more ›, including Shetland HVDCHigh Voltage Direct Current: the technology used for long subsea electricity cables, including the Shetland link. more › Link 2 landing at Boyne Bay or Boyndie Bay, are paid for through network charges set by OfgemThe UK government regulator for gas and electricity, which sets how much network companies can charge billpayers. more ›, with a regulated return to the owner. Transmission charges totalled £5.1bn in 2025-26. Ofgem forecasts the grid part of a typical household bill rising from £44 to £104 by 2030-31.
Ofgem lets transmission ownersA licensed company that owns and builds the high-voltage electricity grid in part of Great Britain. more › recover 100% of community fundMoney a developer or network owner pays to communities near new infrastructure, recovered in full from billpayers. more › costs from billpayers. Under government guidance, buried cable earns no community fund, so the landfallThe point on the coast where a subsea cable comes ashore and connects to the onshore cable route. more › coast is entitled to £0.
The spending runs through bills, not tax. Taxpayers stand behind the borrowing. In the year to March 2026 SSEN Transmission agreed £2.0bn of guaranteed bank facilities:
If the borrower defaulted, those governments would cover the lenders. None of the facilities had been drawn at 31 March 2026.
At least 84% of the offshore wind capacity landing or planned on this coast is owned outside the UK: that figure pools Beatrice, Moray East, Moray West and the consented but unbuilt Caledonia (2,000MW of the 4,420MW total), and counts the Guernsey-registered funds as UK. In their latest accounts, Beatrice and Moray East paid £188.3m in dividendsA payment a company makes to its shareholders out of its profits. more › between them. Of that:
SSEN Transmission, which builds the grid, is 75% SSE plc and 25% Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan of Canada. SSE reports adjusted net profit attributableThe share of a group's profit allocated to a particular shareholder on paper, which is not the same as cash actually paid to them. more › to that 25% holder of £188.3m in the year to March 2026. That is a share of profit, not cash paid out: the company declared no dividend that year. It happens to equal the two wind farms’ combined dividend of £188.3m above; the two figures are unrelated.
The question this raises: money recovered from every electricity bill in Britain pays for this work. Should the public be able to see where it goes?
Low Carbon Contracts CompanyThe government-owned company that manages and pays out Contracts for Difference, and publishes the daily figures. more › CfDA government contract that tops up a wind farm's income when the market price is low, and claws money back when it is high. more › data (dp.lowcarboncontracts.uk). Companies HouseThe UK government registry where companies file their accounts and ownership details, most of which the public can read for free. more › accounts and ownership registers for Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd, Moray Offshore Windfarm (East) Ltd and (West) Ltd. SSE plc annual report 2026. OfgemThe UK government regulator for gas and electricity, which sets how much network companies can charge billpayers. more › community fundMoney a developer or network owner pays to communities near new infrastructure, recovered in full from billpayers. more › pass-throughA cost Ofgem lets a network company recover in full from billpayers, rather than paying for out of its own profit. more › guidance, 1 April 2026. DESNZThe UK government department responsible for energy policy, including subsidy auctions and community fund guidance. more › community funds guidance. NESOThe National Energy System Operator, the body that keeps Great Britain's electricity grid balanced minute by minute. more › Annual Balancing CostsWhat the system operator spends keeping electricity supply and demand matched second by second, including constraint payments. more › Report 2025 and TNUoSTransmission Network Use of System charges: the part of a bill that pays for building and running the high-voltage grid. more › tariffs 2025/26. Find a TenderThe UK government's public portal where major public contracts, including some SSEN Transmission tenders, must be advertised. more › notice 052513-2026. Compiled October 2026 by a Banffshire coast resident.