However, one thing hasn’t changed: the need for electricity supply and demand to always balance.
Matching electricity supply to demand is crucial to keeping the grid stable.
Electrical frequency is a factor of power supply that a nation’s electricity grid needs to carefully manage to keep the lights on. Great Britain’s grid operates at a frequency of 50Hz – a deviation of more than just 0.2% can cause outages and damage grid equipment. Historically, when there was a spike in electricity demand, the supply had to increase to meet it.
This becomes challenging in a system increasingly dependent on intermittent renewables, like wind and solar, that are unable to generate power if weather conditions are unfavourable. Such technologies also typically contribute less to the system’s resistance to change in frequency, or ‘inertia’. This reduces the scope for deviation – and makes balancing an even more delicate operation.
Demand side response (DSR) offers a solution to maintaining the balance by creating flexibility in demand.
Find out more about DSR
