National Grid | Fully Charged

Robert Llewellyn visits the National Grid to find out what it's all about!
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The National Grid is a high-voltage electric power transmission network, connecting power stations and 340+ substations ensuring supply and demand is in the balance. Nigel Williams speaks to Robert Llewellyn about how the National Grid works in Great Britain, and what challenges it faces with the rapidly changing world.

Fully Charged is an online show hosted by Robert Llewellyn (Red Dwarf, Scrapheap Challenge, Carpool), sponsored by British Gas: Looking After Your World. During this series, Robert will discuss why we need to change how we think about energy consumption now. He will be taking a look at the newest electric cars available on the market [Volvo, Ford, Peugeot, Renault & Nissan] and also different forms of renewable energy [Wind and Solar].

• Category

  Science & Technology

[BaubleRob]

Great vid, Rob. Why have I never seen Nigel (or anyone else at the NG, come to think of it) interviewed before? Baffling.

[fullychargedshow]

Very good question, here's a conspiratorial theory. Maybe if your position is anti-wind/micro generation and pro fossil burning then the last person you want to hear from is someone who manages this. On the other far more plausible hand, National Grid don't desperately need the PR, but they do desperately need engineers, they are trying to hire 1,000's and having real trouble finding them. Bit bonkers in current climate

[amrj700]

bmreports dotcom > general > electricity data summary. view in firefox.

[denelson83]

It's in Berkshire, dummy.

[S. Flavius Mercurius]

Amazing stuff.

[vaudevilleUK]

Morning and evening cups of tea, before and after work ;)

[gigitrix]

I could sit in that control room just looking at those displays for a whole day...

[Bannor Haruchai]

Not sure but widespread use of air conditioners probably is a big factor in midday summer usage.

I'm the only one of my entire circle of friends and colleagues who doesn't use one at home.

[GITsL9I]

Yep, even in summer

That's amazing, so very different to what we see over here! We get a very steep rise in the morning, flat for most of the day, another rise in the evening and then a nice steep drop-off when everyone goes to bed!

Wonder what the differences are which contribute to such a massive difference in energy usage over the day

[Bannor Haruchai]

Even in summer?

I guess that depends where you live. I'm more familiar with NorthAm demand curves which have a steady, steep rise during the day to a mid-afternoon peak, then a slight decline to about 7-8pm, with a sharp dropoff afterwards.

For California, check caiso.com, click today's outlook. For Ontario, try ieso.ca - there's a Flash demand graph on the main page.

[GITsL9I]

Only if the data from the smart meters is being passed through to grid, not necessarily going to be the case unfortunately...