COVID 19 is Expected to Cause Power Cuts: Here’s Why, And What You Can Do To Avoid Being Affected

But on the flip-side, mass closures of schools, restaurants, factories, and offices mean that as a nation, we’re using much less power. According to National Grid, it's expected we will use 20% less energy than our normal levels for summer.

 
While this can be seen as a good thing for the environment, it’s not really a good thing for our security of supply.

 
Roisin Quinn, the head of National Grid’s control room, said low demand could put the network under high levels of stress: “The assumption will be that lower demand makes it easier for us to do our job, with less power needed overall and therefore less stress on the system. In fact, as system operator, it’s just as important for us to manage lower demand for electricity as it is to manage the peaks.” 

 
When we generate more electricity than we need, blackouts can be caused for two reasons: first, we run the risk of overloading local energy grids and second, we see reduced resilience to frequency changes.

 
The National Grid does have a few ideas to combat this. Initially by cutting electricity imports via subsea cables from Europe then by switching power generation to flexible wind farms where possible and finally by using hydro-power projects as ‘virtual batteries’ to store this electricity surplus.

 
But as we’re in completely uncharted territory for the modern energy industry, experts have warned that more frequent power cuts are coming with or without the National Grid’s measures.

 
You can protect yourself from future power cuts by investing in a generator today. Genovate Power Solutions offer commercial and domestic solutions so you can make sure you’re protected whatever your circumstances.

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