Latest news with #gasfree
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Spain's power cut shows the risks of gas-free Britain
Britain's National Energy System Operator (Neso) has set an ambition to run the power grid without gas by the end of this year. It's just a trial period but Neso has said it is a glimpse of what the future holds. It has already boasted of running '95pc carbon-free', although this has only been possible because of a quirk of carbon accounting rules that designates the burning of wood at an industrial scale as zero carbon. That is despite the carbon dioxide emissions from so-called wood-pellet biomass being higher than for the coal it replaced. Go figure. Whether Neso's ambition to be totally gas-free will be possible even with the dodgy carbon accounting rules is unclear. In the summer months, gas power stations are often turned up by the system operator in order to stabilise the grid – not through the power they provide so much as the way they work. Gas power stations generate electricity through turbines, which generate something called inertia. This is important to control voltage across the network. The basis of our power grid is alternating current, linked to the speed of turbine rotation. But the way we generate out electricity is changing. The energy transition has seen a major deployment of wind and solar farms. These typically produce direct current, which is different to the alternating current our grid uses. It is converted to alternating current using electronic devices. Not only do wind and solar not produce the alternating current required by the grid, they also lack inertia. As we replace conventional generation with renewables, we reduce the amount of inertia on the grid. This makes it less resilient to faults, which can disrupt the frequency. Why? Because conventional gas or coal generators are big, heavy machines that resist changes to their speed of rotation. They act as a brake, slowing changes in grid frequency.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Britain to keep lights on with ‘gas-free' power grid for first time
Britain's electricity grid operators will attempt to keep the country's lights on without burning gas for the first time ever this summer, In a potential glimpse of the future power system, the National Energy System Operator (Neso) – which manages the network – confirmed it was looking at 'potential opportunities' for a short period of gas-free generation later this year. If successful, it would make Britain one of the few industrialised countries to have run its electricity system without burning gas domestically. The quango, which is responsible for the day-to-day management of the grid, has set itself a target to achieve the milestone of operating the system free of gas for an initial 30 minute period at some point this year. In the longer term, the Government also wants at least 95pc of Britain's annual electricity needs to be met by renewables, nuclear plants, batteries or carbon-captured sources by 2030 – under its clean power action plan. 'Important proof of concept' Jacob Mandel, of Aurora Energy Research, said it was 'inevitable' that at some point the UK will be running its electricity grid with no contribution from gas for a short period of time. 'We've seen over the last few years gas use falling and falling, with more renewables built out in the UK and contributing to generation,' he said. 'There are still difficulties to get past, but it's inevitable at some point we'll see an hour or two when gas isn't running. That will be an important proof of concept for how the UK grid could look in the longer term.'
