COMMENT: NESO notices show need for diverse supply

Last week, the National Energy System Operator issued a capacity market notice for the third time this winter.

The notice was later cancelled, but it has sparked conversation across the industry.

In layman’s terms, this was a warning: the grid was going to struggle to meet demand.

It was cold, so demand was higher, and it was not a particularly windy day in the UK, meaning wind plants had been generating very little electricity.

The purpose of the notice was to get the market to respond by ramping up and turning on other means of generation – or reversing the flow of interconnectors – to meet the increased demand.

In such instances, the market always responds, and the lights stay on. However, gas plants are often used to compensate.

This is not clean power, and as more gas plants are retired, this will become increasingly more difficult.

Speaking on the matter, James Humfrey, CEO of the Morocco – UK Power Project, said: “We should rightly be proud of the progress the UK has made in its energy transition to net zero. But the last few days have served as a stark reminder of how susceptible our energy supply is to severe weather conditions.

“Ensuring that supply is diversified as much as possible should be a key priority for the government as it seeks to deliver clean power 2030.

“The problem with the UK’s geography is that the weather patterns are highly correlated. This so called Dunkelflaute effect – when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow – does leave us at risk of what we’ve seen this week – a perfect storm of poor weather increasing energy demand at the same time as reducing generation from renewable sources.

“The warnings we’ve seen this week from NESO and the industry are an important reminder of our exposure to poor weather conditions. It highlights why we need more diversity in our renewable energy mix to reduce our exposure when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow – and our over-reliance on expensive imported gas as a backup.”

James continued: “Recent events highlight the need to identify firm flexible power sources that complement our more renewables-based energy system. To avoid relying on imported gas in these winter months, we have to look to other forms of low carbon generation that can be delivered at sufficient scale to help plug the gaps during periods of adverse weather.

“This tightness in the energy market highlights the need for a diversity of power sources to support the UK’s increasing energy demand, and deliver when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining.

“Dedicated solar power that is negatively correlated with the UK’s weather patterns presents a real opportunity to guarantee our energy security and reduce our reliance on expensive imported gas.”

Our Morocco – UK Power Project and the broader idea of a global grid will prove very important in the Net Zero transition.

Trade winds in Morocco are consistently strong and do not correlate with those in the UK, meaning any gaps left by intermittency here will be plugged.

The Project can also increase or decrease supply in sub-second response times, which is necessary to balance the grid and will help Britain to avoid balancing costs associated with, for example, having to use Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGTs).