From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
It was much worse than we thought!
From the Telegraph:
Experts say the events of June 23 prove the UK’s energy network is dangerously exposed
As they sat down to watch England’s World Cup showdown with Ghana, millions of football fans were oblivious to the crisis unfolding on Britain’s power grid.
It was June 23 and the country was sweltering under a heatwave, prompting many to crank up fans and air conditioners at home.
With large numbers also glued to their televisions late into the night, it meant demand on the electricity system was unusually high.
What the fans didn’t know, however, was that in a control room in Reading, engineers at the National Energy System Operator (Neso) were sweating to keep the show on the road.
At 17 seconds past 8pm, just an hour before kick-off, the crisis reached its nadir. Disaster was only averted after grid bosses begged their French counterparts for help over the phone.
The story is being seen by some experts as the clearest example yet that Britain’s power network is exposed.
“It’s a warning, and one we’re going to have to learn from,” says Ben Watts, an independent energy analyst. “I think everyone accepts we were very close to having a problem, but it didn’t quite get there.”
Neso also faces whistleblower allegations – which are being independently investigated – that bosses sought to cover up the evidence of instability on June 23.
The grid operator has insisted the system worked properly throughout. That is one possible telling, say experts. Another is that the day was only saved thanks to sheer luck and goodwill from the French.
So who is right? And what happened?
Full story here.
According to the Telegraph:
With 8pm approaching, Britain’s 3.3GW battery fleet was running low on power and the amount of available spare gas capacity had dwindled to just 80MW in the South.
At 7.50pm, the frequency dipped below normal operating levels again and at 8pm precisely it hit 49.656Hz – the lowest level observed this year.
It was enough to prompt Neso to plead for emergency help.
Just before 8pm, engineers in the British control room picked up the phone and called their counterparts at RTE, the French grid operator. An official market notice was then published at 8.01pm, but gave no detail.
Within minutes of Neso’s call, grid operators in Paris swung into action.
Between 7.55pm and 8.05pm, three French interconnectors changed direction and started funnelling nearly 2GW of power back into Britain.
With this, the grid’s frequency rapidly climbed back into the comfort zone and didn’t leave it again for the rest of the evening. France had saved the day.
Kathryn Porter commented:
“There was no reserve left,” she wrote on social media. “This is deeply worrying, because if we’d lost a major generator that evening it could have been game over particularly with so many grid boundaries running over capacity.
“It looks like Neso ran the grid past its limit that evening and was saved by two things: France delivering extra megawatts and nothing breaking during the critical evening period.”
