Dive Brief:
- A consequence of the UK's growing use of renewable power sources for its electricity is the power quality is not what it should be.
- Renewables make it more difficult for grid operators to maintain a steady frequency of 50 Hertz, and the problem is being reported across Europe, according to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity. The result is more frequent flickering of lights and worries that blackouts may occur.
- Today, the country gets about 10% of its power from renewables but that number is set to rise to 20% by 2020.
Dive Insight:
To tackle the problem, UK utilities are developing emergency backup generators and hope for a breakthrough in electric storage technologies. Andrew Jones, managing director of European operations for US-based S&C Electric, said the UK would need "around 2,000 megawatts of storage capacity installed to show that the economics of power storage work." But much more would be necessary, he said, if the grid were to rely on 20% of power from renewables.