Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Electricity System of Great Britain: A Study on Energy Demand, Generation, Pricing and Grid Stability
The outbreak of SARS-COV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19) abruptly changed the patterns in electricity consumption, challenging the system operations of forecasting and balancing supply and demand. This is mainly due to the mitigation measures that include lockdown and work from home (WFH), which decreased...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/3/635 |
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| author | Desen Kirli Maximilian Parzen Aristides Kiprakis |
| author_facet | Desen Kirli Maximilian Parzen Aristides Kiprakis |
| author_sort | Desen Kirli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The outbreak of SARS-COV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19) abruptly changed the patterns in electricity consumption, challenging the system operations of forecasting and balancing supply and demand. This is mainly due to the mitigation measures that include lockdown and work from home (WFH), which decreased the aggregated demand and remarkably altered its profile. Here, we characterise these changes with various quantitative markers and compare it with pre-lockdown business-as-usual data using Great Britain (GB) as a case study. The ripple effects on the generation portfolio, system frequency, forecasting accuracy and imbalance pricing are also analysed. An energy data extraction and pre-processing pipeline that can be used in a variety of similar studies is also presented. Analysis of the GB demand data during the March 2020 lockdown indicates that a shift to WFH will result in a net benefit for flexible stakeholders, such as consumers on variable tariffs. Furthermore, the analysis illustrates a need for faster and more frequent balancing actions, as a result of the increased share of renewable energy in the generation mix. This new equilibrium of energy demand and supply will require a redesign of the existing balancing mechanisms as well as the longer-term power system planning strategies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:33:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-db6da70073664c4ba31e100449b0af8d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:33:59Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-db6da70073664c4ba31e100449b0af8d2023-12-03T14:51:13ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732021-01-0114363510.3390/en14030635Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Electricity System of Great Britain: A Study on Energy Demand, Generation, Pricing and Grid StabilityDesen Kirli0Maximilian Parzen1Aristides Kiprakis2Institute for Energy Systems, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UKInstitute for Energy Systems, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UKInstitute for Energy Systems, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UKThe outbreak of SARS-COV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19) abruptly changed the patterns in electricity consumption, challenging the system operations of forecasting and balancing supply and demand. This is mainly due to the mitigation measures that include lockdown and work from home (WFH), which decreased the aggregated demand and remarkably altered its profile. Here, we characterise these changes with various quantitative markers and compare it with pre-lockdown business-as-usual data using Great Britain (GB) as a case study. The ripple effects on the generation portfolio, system frequency, forecasting accuracy and imbalance pricing are also analysed. An energy data extraction and pre-processing pipeline that can be used in a variety of similar studies is also presented. Analysis of the GB demand data during the March 2020 lockdown indicates that a shift to WFH will result in a net benefit for flexible stakeholders, such as consumers on variable tariffs. Furthermore, the analysis illustrates a need for faster and more frequent balancing actions, as a result of the increased share of renewable energy in the generation mix. This new equilibrium of energy demand and supply will require a redesign of the existing balancing mechanisms as well as the longer-term power system planning strategies.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/3/635electricity systemCOVID-19electricity demandenergydemandbehaviour |
| spellingShingle | Desen Kirli Maximilian Parzen Aristides Kiprakis Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Electricity System of Great Britain: A Study on Energy Demand, Generation, Pricing and Grid Stability Energies electricity system COVID-19 electricity demand energy demand behaviour |
| title | Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Electricity System of Great Britain: A Study on Energy Demand, Generation, Pricing and Grid Stability |
| title_full | Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Electricity System of Great Britain: A Study on Energy Demand, Generation, Pricing and Grid Stability |
| title_fullStr | Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Electricity System of Great Britain: A Study on Energy Demand, Generation, Pricing and Grid Stability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Electricity System of Great Britain: A Study on Energy Demand, Generation, Pricing and Grid Stability |
| title_short | Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Electricity System of Great Britain: A Study on Energy Demand, Generation, Pricing and Grid Stability |
| title_sort | impact of the covid 19 lockdown on the electricity system of great britain a study on energy demand generation pricing and grid stability |
| topic | electricity system COVID-19 electricity demand energy demand behaviour |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/3/635 |
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