Dale Vince Collects Wind Farm Subsidies of £145 Million Over 20 Years – And Still Charges His Customers More Than the Ofgem Price Cap

Onshore renewable energy operator Dale Vince has collected over £145 million of state subsidies over the last 20 years, according to recent research compiled by David Turver from published accounts and government sources. But profits may be at risk, concludes Turver, with current subsidies running out and an aging wind fleet declining in performance. The subsidies of course are ultimately paid by British electricity consumers to promote the growth of wind power. Vince has donated £5.4 million to the ruling Labour party in recent years and will no doubt be hoping that even more generous future state payments will be available, and the planning brakes on onshore wind farms are lifted.

The bulk of the subsidies for his Ecotricity operation come from the Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROC) scheme. This scheme was remarkably generous and until 2017 it handed out tradable financial certificates. Vince often states that his companies are subsidy-free but ROCs are essentially moolah for megawatts. The scheme is a transfer of wealth from consumers to producers via the State and over the last 20 years the entrepreneurial Vince has collected £115 million. Alas, the scheme only subsidises windmills for their first 20 years of operation, and in the latest financial period the ROC contribution fell from £9.15 million to £7.87 million. 

Other benefits clearly visible include an “enduring derogation” from the Ofgem consumer energy price cap. Turver works out that Ecotricity is allowed to charge 11.8% more on its standard variable rate than its competitors. To be fair to Vince, he can charge higher prices due to his appeal to ‘green’, presumably well-heeled, customers. Turver does, however, note that the higher prices beg the question why Vince has to charge extra for his supply when he frequently states that wind energy is the cheapest energy source.

From 2014/15, Vince’s companies have earned a further £8.55 million in renewable credits, and since 2015/16 it has collected £21.5 million for administering the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) scheme. The FiT scheme is no longer available, but it rewards home consumers for producing electricity. The FiT income would not exist without the FiT subsidies so technically, argues Turver, this is a subsidy. It brings the total of Ecotricity subsidy receipts to £145 million.

The ability to harvest subsidies and charge more than the energy price cap does not eliminate the risks of renewables. Borrowings of £80 million from banks and bondholders (Ecotricity customers get an extra 0.5 bond interest rate) are outstanding. As an entrepreneur there are the inevitable mishaps for Dale Vince. Problems with a scheme to turn grass into gas led to a recent £12.2 million write-off. In 2022, the Heckington Fen onshore wind farm was denied planning consent because of fears it would interfere with radar. Such concern appears to be growing with the Ministry of Defence recently forced to spend £1.5 billion to combat the ’Doppler’ effects of wind farms on vital military radar. Even with this amount of money spent, it’s not clear if there is a viable solution in sight. In addition, there’s political risk in the air with the Reform party leading in the UK polls and promising to save billions of pounds by scrapping what it calls Net Stupid Zero.

Interestingly, a plan for a 500MW solar farm at Heckington Fen was approved by the Labour Government earlier this year, but instead of developing it Vince has put it up for sale to achieve a quick profit. Money also came into the company last year from the sale of a 24.7% stake in the Good Energy Group. Turver observes that the CEO of Good Energy is Nigel Pocklington, who is the brother of Jeremy Pocklington, who is the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Juliet Davenport, founder of Good Energy, serves on the DESNZ Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission. Good Energy was bought by a United Arab Emirates-based company earlier this year for £99.4 million, providing Ecotricity with £24.5 million. 

Perhaps the biggest concern facing Vince and Ecotricity is the fall in wind output from the ROC-funded fleet from 159GWh in 2023/24 to 124GWh in 2024/25. Much of this was due to a farm being turned off for batteries to be installed, but the large wind farms at three sites all saw “significant drops” in output as measured by the number of RIOCs they were awarded. In considerable detail, Turver shows that older wind farms are losing efficiency and will run out of ROC payments in the near future. Most, if not all of them, seem to rely on the subsidies to remain profitable. Wind farms like Mablethorpe, Ecotech, Lowick Beacon (Swaffham), Blood Hull (Somerton) and East Kilbride will likely not be profitable says Turver, as output declines and the subsidies run out.

In Turver’s view, the performance of his companies falsifies Vince’s claim that wind power is the cheapest energy source. His companies struggle to be profitable with massive subsidies, even though he charges his customers more than the price cap. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that Vince is a skilled entrepreneur who was quick to grab the generous State cash designed to boost renewable energy over the last 20 years. Recently, he has built a large media and political presence and disseminates his views on climate catastrophe widely. His views are often controversial but his repeated calls for climate change “denial” to be criminalised is unlikely to dent his popularity with his target audience.

We have attempted to report fairly on David Turver’s work, much of which is based on published sources. However, if Dale Vince thinks we have misreported any figures or conclusions, he is welcome to reply to this article.

Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor. Follow him on X.