The second in our ‘Ask an electrician‘ series, written by the experienced electrician team at Opulous, looks at the history of something we all take for granted – the National Grid.
The National Grid is something every electrician needs to know about! It’s the high voltage transmission networks that covers Great Britain connecting power stations and major substations to your home and workplace. You may know it from the pylons and power plants situated across the country.
The history of the National Grid
The first evolution of the ‘grid’ was founded in Newcastle in 1901 by Charles Merz powered by his Neptune Power Bank Station. Whilst this only covered Newcastle, by 1912 it was the largest integrated power system in Europe. In 1926 the introduction of the Electricity (Supply) Act recommended that a ‘national gridiron’ system should be created to solve the problem of Britain’s poor electricity supply. This first National Grid linked 122 power stations using over 4000 miles of overhead cables. During the blitz this national system proved to be invaluable when power stations in South Wales could provide emergency power to London when Battersea and Fulham power stations where damaged through airstrikes.
The UK Grid is connected to adjacent European electrical grids that are used to feed demand and supply across our neighbouring countries such as France, the Netherlands and Irelands. The Grid is constantly being upgraded and maintained to prevent power cuts and faults. Due to the supergrid infrastructure it is estimated that a power cut due to lack of generate power occurs in 9 out of 100 winters. In the last 20 years there has only been one power cut due to a higher demand than available supply.
How is electricity delivered to your house?
- The national grid provides the electricity generation and transmission across the supergrid.
- Your local distributor or DNO is responsible for delivering electricity safely to your home via towers, cables and meters.
- Your supplier such as the Big Six or Social Energy sell you electricity by monitoring your usage and setting a tariff.
In case of a power cut you should contact your DNO or phone 105 for an up-to-date status of any supply problems in your area.
What energy sources supply the National Grid?
Websites like Gridwatch produce a live report of which energy sources are feeding in to the National Grid. Currently the UK’s primary source of electricity production is CCGT. Combined Cycle Gas Turbines use Natural Gas to power a turbine which turns a generator, a second system uses the heat to produce steam which is also used to turn a turbine and power a generator. Whilst this generation method is particularly efficient, is relies on a natural gas of which the UK can only produce around 44% of its demand. The majority of the additional 54% comes via pipelines from Europe and with 36% of Europe’s gas coming from Russia. As the amount of gas that can be extracted from the North Sea declining and relationships with Russia becoming ever more tenuous, it is more important that ever that we continue as a country to invest and implement more renewable energy solutions on a commercial and domestic scale. In 2017 the UK was the only EU country to reduce power usage. Overall electricity demand has fallen by 9% in the past seven years.
The future of the National Grid
A recent report by the Committee on Climate Change is looking to ban gas hobs and boilers so the way newbuilds are designed will in turn shape the Grid’s future. With changes in consumer behaviour such as future uptake on high efficient heating methods like heat pumps and the further adoption of electric vehicles, our demand on electricity will only grow. How the National Grid develops its renewable resources and how the architects of tomorrow begin to design our houses will have an impact of price and how we use electricity day-to-day.
To speak to an experienced electrician about any aspect of your home’s electricity supply please get in touch, we’re a friendly bunch!
