Demand on the transmission system hit 13.4GW, a new low last weekend, but National Grid ESO managed without calling on its new footroom service.
“The Sunday 1B demand [the period overnight Sunday 28/06/20] out turned at 13.4GW, which is the lowest ever observed National Demand”, according to the ESO’s weekly coronavirus update.
That was 1.2GW lower than the control room forecast six hours before time, which could have been quite a big deal.
The system operator considered using its ODFM footroom tool, which pays embedded generators to stop exporting or large businesses to use more power.
But it said exports to continental Europe provided the solution, along with the UK’s pumped storage operators using power to push water uphill, ready to provide flexibility services in the other direction when required.
It also paid wind farms to turn off, a go-to fix.
With the worst of lockdown outliers seemingly out of the way, the ESO is now looking ahead to winter. It wants flexibility providers to inform its plans, bearing in mind further potential disruption and less predictable demand patterns.
See details here.
