POWERING BRITAIN’S FUTURE
How our evolving energy needs have shaped the largest machine in the UK
The UK’s National Grid is a truly enormous infrastructure. We take it for granted, yet it’s vital for powering our everyday lives. The rotation of a wind turbine in the North Sea can feed a light bulb in Bristol – electricity at the flick of a switch. In practice, the grid is much more complicated than this. It’s a live energy transmission network, orchestrating the see-sawing supply and demand required at peak and off-peak times, balancing how much power the country can produce with how much it needs. But this hasn’t always been the case. In the early 1900s, electricity was supplied by a mix of private companies and municipal councils, but it was extortionately expensive. Post-WWI Britain needed cheaper, more reliable energy. So the most efficient power stations were connected up in seven areas around the country. Then, one evening in 1937, the control rooms tried combining the seven grids. It worked – and the National Grid was born. By the start of WWII, two thirds of homes were connected to the grid. Post war, domestic electricity demand sky-rocketed – gadgets like irons and immersion heaters sucked up huge amounts of energy – and manufacturing on electrically driven production lines accounted for almost 40 per cent of GDP in post-WWII Britain. The electricity industry was nationalised in 1947, but was privatised years later in 1990 when the National Grid became a company with shares owned by 12 regional electrical companies, and the seven control centres were replaced by one base. Over the years, the grid has upgraded into a ‘supergrid’, distributing electrical power generated in England, Scotland and Wales, and transferring energy between Great Britain, Ireland, France and the Netherlands.
Power junkies
So far, the grid has kept pace with our energy needs – just. The reality is that we are power junkies. Little in today’s world doesn’t rely on being plugged in. From smart phones to laptops, ovens to air con, much of what we use for work, rest and play requires electricity. And that thirst for power is about to ramp up. The grid now faces its next big challenges: the electrification of our vehicles and achieving net zero carbon by 2050. As new diesel and petrol cars will no longer be sold in the UK from 2030, it is predicted that 35 million electric vehicles (EVs) will be on our roads by 2050. Fantastic news for cutting carbon emissions, especially as the UK still has the capacity to generate enough energy. Improved energy efficiency means peak demand has fallen by about 16 per cent in the last two decades. Even if we all switched to EVs overnight, demand would only increase by roughly 10 per cent. However, peak demand between 6-8pm is exactly when most commuters will return from work and want to plug in their EV. Added to that challenge is the government’s EV Energy Taskforce recommendation that all future car chargers be ‘smart by design’ and only charge outside those peak hours. Another challenge is that the UK government has signed up to being ‘net zero’ by 2050, meaning as a country we don’t emit more CO2 than our natural landscapes can absorb. While the last two years were the greenest on record for Britain’s electricity system, shifting from fossil fuels to renewables means going from a steady supply of energy to a fluctuating one. Throwing more coal on the fire can
“The Grid now faces its next big challenges”
be done at any time, but the wind doesn’t always blow and the Sun won’t always shine at peak times.
Future solutions
Building large energy storage plants would help to cope with fluctuations in electricity generation from renewables. Currently, lithium-ion batteries (like the ones in your smartphone or EV) can store energy and then release it when needed. The government reckons that technologies like battery storage systems could save up to £40 million by 2050. Energy storage units are also moving into the home. Devices like the Tesla Powerwall store energy from the grid when there is excess supply and sell it back when there is excess demand. And, if there is ever a power cut, these units work a bit like noise-free generators that don’t use fuel. EVs can also give back to the grid using ‘vehicle-to-grid technology’ or ‘V2G’. Instead of the EV sitting idly on the street or drive, energy stored in its battery feeds into the grid, helping to boost energy supplies at peak times – and earning you a bit of extra cash. For a smaller scale investment, a smart meter is a good alternative, as in the future it could enable you to make money off any surplus energy you generate. When demand rises, the smart meter could help to sell any surplus energy back to the grid thanks to smart off-peak tariffs. The smart meter’s in-home display might also soon let you know when electricity prices are cheaper, signalling the best time of day to run energy-hungry devices like washing machines.