How does the National Grid compare to other countries in Europe?
Many countries in Europe are facing the same issues when it comes to readying their grids for the future. Case in point, Germany, who find themselves in a position where the renewable energy they generate cannot be managed by their power grid.
Germany's massive wind farms in the north of the country make for pleasant reading if we only look at power generated. However, all this counts for little if the power generated doesn't actually end up in people's homes.
Such is the amount of excess power that some people in Germany are effectively being paid to use excess energy, otherwise known as negative wholesale electricity.
It gets worse for Europe when you factor in gas. We've already seen the impact on Europe's gas supply from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine tensions, and despite calls to stop Europe's reliance on Russian exports, gas remains integral to the continent.
Therein lies the major problem - Europe's grid can't deal with the increase in renewable energy, so green technology such as heat pumps would need to be powered using electricity generated by fossil fuels. But if gas either becomes too expensive, or there isn't enough of it, countries in Europe would have to turn to coal (despite decarbonisation efforts).
Summary
Despite fears of the National Grid being unable to cope, it does at least seem like the UK has a plan in place. What remains to be seen is whether the introduction of new technologies will be enough, because there are still some experts who believe that the grid will struggle in the future. Especially as more people buy electric cars and home heating moves from gas, oil, and other fossil fuels, to electricity.
