Overcharging wind farm will pay back millions

The Moray wind farm provides energy to the National Grid

A wind farm in north-east Scotland is to pay £5.5m into a fund to help vulnerable customers after regulators found it had overcharged for a subsidy.

Ofgem found EDF subsidiary Dorenell Windfarm Limited (DWL) charged "excessive prices" when it was asked to reduce its output.

The firm, which majority owns the 59-turbine wind farm near Dufftown, said it accepted it had made an "unintentional breach" of licence conditions and had changed its policy to avoid future breaches.

Ofgem said its enforcement work should send a clear message that such breaches would not be tolerated.

Wind farms are normally paid for the electricity they produce but, when the grid is too full to take it on, they can be paid to turn turbines off.

Ofgem found DWL charged excessive prices when it was asked to reduce its output, pushing up costs for consumers.