Thread by @emilygosden

Scoop: National Grid warns that Britain could be at risk of blackouts on Friday.

It’s told Ofgem there’s a “significant risk of disruption to security of supply” unless it’s granted emergency powers to switch off wind & solar farms.

My story, and a 🧵...
thetimes.co.uk/article/blacko…

To keep the lights on National Grid has to keep electricity supply and demand balanced in real time.

Too much or too little power and the system becomes unstable, which can cause blackouts 🕯🕯🕯

Lockdowns due to coronavirus have caused a big drop in power demand as businesses and factories stay shut. We are using about 20% less electricity than normal. 📉

Easter Monday saw all-time record low demand and the bank holiday on Friday May 8 could be even lower.

With extreme low demand, there is a risk the electricity network may be overwhelmed by surplus power.

As I reported a couple of weeks ago, National Grid has already warned it may have to issue emergency instructions to switch off surplus power plants...

thetimes.co.uk/article/surplu…

...but now National Grid has realised it may not actually have the legal right to switch off some of the power plants it needs to in an emergency.

🤦‍♀️😬🤦‍♀️😬

The problem is with small solar and wind farms that feed directly into local power networks. ☀️💨

National Grid would have to instruct local networks to disconnect them - and the owners wouldn’t be compensated.

Without clear legal rights to do this, National Grid is worried local networks won’t comply and cut off the surplus wind and solar farms for fear of being sued

So now National Grid has written to Ofgem with an urgent request to give it the legal rights it needs to get these surplus power plants switched off in an emergency.

It warns that if the change isn’t made by Friday there’s a “significant risk of disruption to security of supply”

Ofgem is due to decide on the request by Thursday and given what’s at stake you’d expect them to approve it.

But make no mistake how serious this is - it’s incredibly rare for National Grid to admit to a security of supply threat in such stark terms, and insiders are worried 😬

As Tom Edwards (@NotionalGrid) puts it, this is a “very unusual situation” and National Grid has “little experience balancing a system with such low demand”

But this isn’t *just* a coronavirus issue.

Yes, demand should recover when lockdown ends - but forecasts suggest we’ll see lower demand in coming summers (as solar panels effectively cancel out demand).

Expect to hear a lot more about this issue in future. (End 🧵)