Great to see this discussion, the 2 Oct 2017 was amongst the lowest average carbon intensity we've ever seen. We did take some actions on CCGTs to rebalance for network congestion and to maintain voltage across southern England. We won't always need to do this. Detail below..1/n
The 2 Oct saw very high wind output in Scotland. We had to pull some of this wind back as the flow exceeded the network limits between Scotland and England. We replaced this power using CCGTs in England. We're increasing the Scot-England capacity to remove this limit 2/n
We also ran some CCGT units in southern England to help maintain the regional system voltage. We are always working on options to manage voltage at lowest cost so we are gradually reducing many of the regional requirements to run these units but there will often be a few 3/n
We also took some measures to manage system inertia but these look like they were carbon neutral in terms of impacts.. 4/n
So overall, Simon's summary that we took action to help manage voltage and inertia are spot on. We reduced wind output purely due to limits in the network which are less likely to be an issue in the future. 5/n
Overall, the 2 Oct is a great case study. It tells us that as we increase the network capacity for scottish renewable output and invent alternatives to manage voltage we will be able to run with low or without any fossil fuels when the market/weather conditions are right 5/5
For those of you interested in this conversation yesterday. Great step forward today to put consumers in the driving seat with the new GB regional forecast of CO2 intensity from @NGControlRoom, @wwf_uk and @EnvDefenseFund. carbonintensity.org.uk
