On Wednesday (14 October) Neso paid an estimated £49m in balancing costs, a potential new record, and ahead of the previous record, Tuesday.

Balancing costs are the expenses paid by the grid operator to keep supply and demand in exact equilibrium and are particularly affected by dips in renewable energy sources, requiring imports and non-renewable power, or conversely paid to renewable provider if they overproduce.

On Wednesday, compensation was paid to wind farms to switch off as the grid could not transmit the energy generated, but the majority of the costs was to allow gas-fired power stations make up power deficits.

As reported on this site, the annual bill could reach £2bn this year and £8bn by 2028. The publicly owned Neso has come under fire from National Audit Office recently for its progress on and future of electricity transmission upgrades.

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