For the second time in recent weeks, National Grid has warned that the nation’s electricity will be in short supply over the next few days. We look into the reasons why, what is being done about it and an example of a business we support, who are prepared for any energy shortfall.
What Are the Factors Causing the Shortfall?
National Grid took to Twitter to put out a warning that ‘unusually low wind output’, import and export levels and a number of generator outages has led to them operating with a reduced spare capacity.
Unusually low wind output coinciding with a number of generator outages means the cushion of spare capacity we operate the system with has been reduced. We’re exploring measures & actions to make sure there is enough generation available to increase our buffer of capacity [2/3]
— National Grid ESO (@ng_eso) October 14, 2020
Since the above tweets, National Grid has tweeted ‘that margins remain adequate today, and we’re continuing to monitor the situation for tomorrow and the weekend’. Keep updated with the latest from National Grid.
The current shortfall follows on from the mid-September warning where the official statement released by National Grid announced it’s ‘buffer’ of power reserves have dipped below 500MW, and that it potentially needed assistance from more power plants to prevent a blackout.
Dealing with Oversupply
The National Grid more often finds itself dealing with oversupply as opposed to shortfalls, which pose just as much of a problem, as it can threaten to overwhelm the grid when the demand for electricity is low.
Wind farms have been paid to switch off, EDF Energy was told to halve nuclear generation at one of their plants, and as demand fell by over a quarter during lockdown the National Grid spent £1bn on extra measures to prevent blackouts due to oversupply.
Although rare over the past few years, the recent increase in power related issues does raise the question for many UK business owners and organisations about the reliability of the National Grid, and what the options are to cover themselves in the event of a blackout.
Securing a Reliable Power Supply For Our Client Blue Frontier
Blue Frontier is one client who turned to Shenton Group seeking out a standby power system to make sure they are able to remain operational, even during a blackout. With the National Grid at risk from both short supply and oversupply, more and more organisations are futureproofing and looking to alternate and reliable power sources.
Following on from two power outages, Blue Frontier sought a solution so that staff could continue to work and the business could continue to charge their hourly rate for their services in IT support, web design and development and digital marketing, without issue. The cost of being without power for any business is huge, as is the reputational impact if services are not available to paying clients.
Power Continuity Solutions Delivered With Minimal Disruption
As is the goal for most Shenton Group clients, Blue Frontier wanted a cost effective solution that would have minimal disruption to the day-to-day running of the business. The technical experts from Shenton Group visited the Salisbury office to conduct an assessment and to figure out a bespoke solution to meet the exact requirements.
Shenton Group is a solution provider offering turnkey packages and complete support for their clients. In the instance of the Blue Frontier project, the infrastructure team arrived on site out of hours meaning no disruption to the daily operations. The team at Blue Frontier are now able to keep the lights on even when the mains supply is off, allowing them to continue to support their own clients.
Watch the video below to learn more about the project.
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