Royal Electricity Surge: why 'grid balancing' is important

Electric smile: there was a 3000MW demand drop as the Royal couple appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

The Royal Wedding may have been all over our TV screens for months, but here's some coverage of it you probably didn't see. National Grid reported soon after the wedding on the dramatic changes in electricity demand they had to deal with. When the live coverage returned back to the television studio and viewers reached for the kettle, a 2400MW surge in electricity demand was experienced. This is equivalent to boiling nearly one million kettles.

This perfectly demonstrates the problems the National Grid face when dealing with electricity supply. This surge is the same size as the capacity of two a half Hinkley Point B nuclear power stations, nearly two thirds of Drax coal power station (the UK's largest single emitter of Carbon Dioxide) and 1200 Scroby Sands-size wind turbines at peak output. You can easily imagine how finding this sort of energy for only a few short minutes presents a problem for the grid.

It also demonstrates the changes the electricity system will have to go through to see increased renewable energy output. You can't determine when the wind will blow, and the tides aren't going out all the time, so demand will have to be made to work around the environment or energy will have to be stored. This 'Smart Grid' that can manage this will revolutionise the way we use energy and smart meters, which we'll be looking more closely at over the next few months, are the first step on the way to this.

The next steps are more complex. Already the UK has grid connections to Europe so it can buy and sell electricity when supply and demand between nations is favourable. Electricity is already at cheaper at night, when demand is low, and more expensive at peak times; with smart meters, electricity prices may be on 'time-of-use tariffs', fluctuating more precisely depending on overall supply and demand. Electric cars may become giant batteries that spare energy can be stored and sourced from. Hydro-storage such as at 'Electric Mountain' may become more common. Appliances such as washing machines may turn on automatically when energy is more readily available - and cheaper.

This surge in demand wasn't the largest ever experienced by the grid - that was a 2800MW spike at the end of England's penalty shoot-out against West Germany in the 1990 football World Cup. Not even the Royal Family can compete with football, it seems.

Video: "What do you think? - My 2050"

This stunning video was recently released, featuring members of the Youth Advisory Panel, aiming to open up the energy debate. Have a watch and go to decc.gov.uk/my2050 to join in.

Smart Meters: what, why, how and when?

This is a digest of the presentation on the roll out of SMART meters by SMART meters team, Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to the DECC YAP (Youth Advisory Panel), London, 5^th May 2011.

The Mass roll out of SMART meters begins in 2014 when householders across the UK will be encouraged by energy providers to switch to next generation meters which enable people to monitor and manage their domestic energy consumption. Unlike traditional meters, SMART meters provide insight into how much energy is being used at any given time and by which appliances in the home. Large amounts of data will be collected on energy use to enable providers to refine their pricing structures to offer flexible and innovative tariffs to consumers.

Youth Advisory Panel Relaunch

The Youth Advisory Panel met earlier this month, for the first time with its refreshed line up! We were very pleased to welcome our new members: Edward, Heather, Jade, Kristian, Reuben, Sasha, Stephen and Zain. They join the five members that remain from the previous panel.

The first meeting of the new session (not sure how to define it!) saw presentations from the Smart Meters team, the Customer Insight team and the 2050 team. This year we'll be looking a bit more in depth at the work of particular teams within DECC, investigating the work of the Coal + CCS Team and the Land-based Renewables team in addition to those that presented to us at our meeting.

The group will continue to meet once a month, our next meeting being at the start of June. More detailed posts on plans for the year ahead and the presentations will follow shortly.

The Youth Advisory Panel is recruiting!

You by now will hopefully know about the DECC Youth Advisory Panel – if not, have a look at the website and the lovely blog to get up to speed with all the activities and work the Panel has done over the past year.

Since the Pilot phase, the Panel is going into full swing and we are recruiting for some new Members! This is your chance to be a part of something very exciting and speak up on behalf of your generation.

If you are already involved with a youth organisation or network, then this is the perfect opportunity for you to share the thoughts of your membership and act as a direct channel to government policy. If you are an individual who is keen to learn more about how government policy is decided and you think you have what it takes to work with other young people to share your opinions and ideas as a young person, then we want to hear form you too!

The Panel has been made up of approximately 16 members, with support from a handful of others, and about 2/3 of the original pilot members are staying on for another year. There are therefore about 5 or so places to be filled in this new recruitment phase.

Your commitments will include:

• Attending monthly meetings in London at the DECC offices;
• Approximately one additional ‘visit’ in smaller groups at a location in your region to a site of particular interest (see the Energy report for details of the sorts of visits you might go on);
• Offering about 2 hours a week to be involved in online discussion forums or calls in between meetings;
• Blogging on your organisation’s blog or any other online forums you are involved in;

In return we will:

• Cover your travel expenses so you are not out of pocket;
• Provide the facilities and logistical support for the Youth Panel meetings;
• Offer you the chance to meet with DECC policy officers and Ministers, so you can share your thoughts with them;
• A tremendous opportunity to work with other dedicated young people who are working with the government department to share the views of young people;
• A valuable insight into the policy-making process and how you can be involved.

There is an application form for you to fill in online that offers you the chance to let your colours SHINE and show us why you should be on the Panel.

If you would like, or need a paper copy, please contact us by email and we can send you a copy.

Please do take all the time you need to read the questions and think about your responses – BUT PLEASE NOTE you have to complete the survey ALL IN ONE GO. So please answer every question before closing your browser.

The deadline for applications is Friday 25th March. Then decisions will be made over that weekend and announcements made onMonday 28th March.

If you have any trouble filling out the form or have any more questions, email applications@think2050.org

All the best with the application!

Happy New Year!!!

Great programme on the philosophical implications of our ecological crisis on BBC Radio 4 delivered by Alan de Botton - Enjoy!

Click here to view

Report Launch: An Account

The Youth Panel with Minister, Charles Hendry

The work of the past few months has come together, and we produced a hugely exciting document ( "Energy: How Fair Is It Anyway?"). We hope to have opened up many opportunities for young people to participate in the decision making process, especially when the decisions are to affect our and future generations.

The Launch

 

We started the day with meeting Charles Hendry (Minister for Energy and Climate Change) to discuss the report, the work and the future of the Panel within the Department. As ever, Charles Hendry was receptive and enthusiastic about us, and we look forward to working with him more closely in the coming months.

Rt Hon Charles Hendry with panellists Michael Furey and John Northall

The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing for the official launch event. Around 60 people attended from DECC, charities and relevant businesses.

The Launch was chaired by the ever-brilliant Kirsty Schneeberger, who has co-ordinated the Youth Panel over the past months to great success. David McKay, the chief scientific adviser at DECC, was first to speak delivering his thoughts on the panel. Then Panellists Luke Hughes, Alice Hemming and Tom Youngman presented the Youth Advisory Panel, our work, experiences and the findings of the report itself to the attendees.
 

Alice, Luke and David MacKay, DECC chief scientist

Afterwards, we went to communicate via live web links with groups that are attending the COP16 climate conference in Cancún – the British Council's 'Climate Champions' and the  UK Youth Climate Coalition. Also, there was a video-chat with members of Young Friends of the Earth Europe at another conference in Brussels (for European activists that couldn't make it to Cancún). It was great to feel that the work of activists in the UK was concurrent with others across the globe and that the solution we as a Panel are seeking in the UK is being resonated internationally.

Overall the event was a huge success. Our relationship with the people at DECC has strengthened and we are now starting to get a better understanding of where we fit in with the work of the department. We look forward to working with the department in the future.

The event was streamed live online and live-blogged - if you want to feel part of the action, you can view a replay of the live blog.

- Unkha Banda & Tom Youngman