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The National Grid is the high-voltage electric power transmission network serving Great Britain , connecting power stations and major substations , and ensuring that electricity generated anywhere on the grid can be used to satisfy demand elsewhere. The network serves the majority of Great Britain and some of the surrounding islands. It does not cover Northern Ireland , which is part of the Irish single electricity market .

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47-524: [REDACTED] Look up national grid in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. National Grid or National grid may refer to: Power transmission [ edit ] Electrical grid , an interconnected network for delivering electricity National Grid (Great Britain) , the electricity transmission network of Great Britain National Grid plc ,

94-619: A Glaswegian industrialist, to solve the problem of Britain's inefficient and fragmented electricity supply industry. Weir consulted Merz, and the result was the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 , which recommended that a "national gridiron " supply system be created. The 1926 Act created the Central Electricity Board , which set up the UK's first synchronised, nationwide AC grid, running at 132 kV, 50 Hz. The grid

141-639: A grid services market. "Dynamic Containment" started in October 2020, initially priced at £17 per MW per hour, and Dynamic Regulation (DR) started in April 2022. Consumers of electricity are split into two categories: half-hourly metered (HH) and non-half-hourly metered (NHH). Customers whose peak demand is sufficiently high are obliged to have a HH meter, which, in effect, takes a meter reading every 30 minutes. The rates at which charges are levied on these customers' electricity suppliers therefore varies 17,520 times

188-415: A stretch target to be carbon neutral or negative by 2033, well ahead of the UK's national target to achieve this by 2050. It also aims to have the capability to be 'zero carbon' as early as 2025, meaning that if energy suppliers are able to produce sufficient green power, the grid could theoretically run without any greenhouse gas emissions at all (i.e. no carbon capture or offsetting would be needed as

235-485: A (non-leap) year. The TNUoS charges for a HH metered customer are based on their demand during three half-hour periods of greatest demand between November and February, known as the Triad. Due to the nature of electricity demand in the UK, the three Triad periods always fall in the early evening, and must be separated by at least ten clear working days. The TNUoS charges for a HH customer are simply their average demand during

282-581: A 500 kV scheme. Design work was started and in order to meet the programme for 1965 it was necessary for the contract engineering for the first projects to run concurrently with the design. One of these projects was the West Burton 400 kV Indoor Substation, the first section of which was commissioned in June 1965. From 1965, the grid was partly upgraded to 400 kV, beginning with a 150-mile (240 km) line from Sundon to West Burton , to become

329-405: A better solution was sought. Consideration was given to 400 kV and 500 kV schemes: both gave a sufficient margin for future expansion. The decision in favour of a 400 kV system was made for two main reasons. Firstly the majority of the 275 kV lines could be uprated to 400 kV, and secondly it was envisaged that operation at 400 kV could begin in 1965 compared with 1968 for

376-410: A maximum rate of 75 MW during the year would still be charged for the full 100 MW of TEC. In some cases, there are negative TNUoS tariffs. These generators are paid an amount based on their peak net supply over three proving runs over the course of the year. This represents the reduction in costs caused by having a generator close to the centre of demand of the country. National Grid uses

423-569: A national geographical coordinate system for mapping Ordnance Survey National Grid , used in Great Britain Irish national grid reference system United States National Grid Other uses [ edit ] National Grid for Learning , a former government funded educational program in the UK See also [ edit ] Power Grid Corporation of India State Grid Corporation of China Topics referred to by

470-445: A national geographical coordinate system for mapping Ordnance Survey National Grid , used in Great Britain Irish national grid reference system United States National Grid Other uses [ edit ] National Grid for Learning , a former government funded educational program in the UK See also [ edit ] Power Grid Corporation of India State Grid Corporation of China Topics referred to by

517-673: A new non-lattice design of electricity pylon, the T-pylon, was built near East Huntspill , Somerset for the new 35 mile Hinkley Point C to Avonmouth connection. In 2023, the National Grid began removing equipment from China's NARI Technology over national security concerns. The contiguous synchronous grid covers England (including the Isle of Wight ), Scotland (including some of the Scottish islands such as Orkney , Skye and

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564-623: A second by second basis to either lower the demand or to provide extra generation. Reserve services are a group of services each acting within different response times: These reserves are sized according to three factors: The English and Welsh parts of the National Grid are controlled from the National Grid Control Centre which is located in St Catherine's Lodge, Sindlesham , Wokingham in Berkshire. It

611-540: A surplus of cheap low-grade fuel and adequate supplies of cooling water, but these sites did not coincide with the load centres. West Burton 's 4 × 500 MW machines, in the Nottinghamshire coalfield near the River Trent , is an example. These developments shifted the emphasis on the transmission system from interconnection to bulk power transfers from the generation areas to the load centres, such as

658-403: A utilities company based in the UK that also operates in the northeastern United States National Grid (India) , the electricity transmission network of India National Grid (Malaysia) , the electricity transmission network of Malaysia National Grid (New Zealand) , the electricity transmission network of New Zealand Geosurvey [ edit ] National grid reference system ,

705-422: Is charged separately). The grid also charges an annual fee to cover the cost of generators, distribution networks and large industrial users connecting. Triad charges encourage users to cut load at peak periods; this is often achieved by using diesel generators. Such generators are also routinely used by National Grid. If the total TNUoS or Triad receipts (say £15,000/MW·year × 50,000 MW = £750 million/year)

752-491: Is completed, the site's storage capacity will be 266 MWh. National Grid is responsible for contracting short term generating provision to cover demand prediction errors and sudden failures at power stations. This covers a few hours of operation giving time for market contracts to be established to cover longer term balancing. Frequency-response reserves act to keep the system's AC frequency within ±1% of 50  Hz , except in exceptional circumstances. These are used on

799-489: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages national grid (Redirected from National grid ) [REDACTED] Look up national grid in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. National Grid or National grid may refer to: Power transmission [ edit ] Electrical grid , an interconnected network for delivering electricity National Grid (Great Britain) ,

846-409: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages National Grid (Great Britain) The National Grid is a wide area synchronous grid operating at 50 hertz. Most of the physical HV parts of the grid consists of 400 kV lines as well as some 275 kV lines that collectively form a supergrid . It has several undersea interconnectors : an AC connector to

893-668: Is divided by the total number of units delivered by the UK generating system in a year (the total number of units sold – say 360 terawatt-hours (1.3 EJ). ), then a crude estimate can be made of transmission costs, and one gets the figure of around 0.2p/kW⋅h. Other estimates also give a figure of 0.2p/kW⋅h. However, Bernard Quigg notes: "According to the 06/07 annual accounts for NGC UK transmission, NGC carried 350TW⋅h for an income of £2012m in 2007, i. e. NGC receives 0.66p per kW hour. With two years inflation to 2008/9, say 0.71p per kW⋅h.", but this also includes generators' connection fees. In order to be allowed to supply electricity to

940-522: Is sometimes described as being a 'secret' location. As of 2015 the system is under consistent cyber attack . Although the transmission network in Scotland is owned by separate companies – SP Transmission plc (part of ScottishPower ) in the south, and Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc (part of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks ) in the north – overall control rests with National Grid Electricity System Operator. The costs of operating

987-538: Is the case with 'net zero'). In 2020 about 40% of the grid's energy came from burning natural gas, and it is not expected that anywhere close to sufficient green power will be available to run the grid on zero carbon in 2025, except perhaps on the very windiest days. Analysts such as Hartree Solutions considered in 2020 that getting to 'net zero' by 2050 would be challenging, even more so to reach 'net zero' by 2033. There has, however, been sustained progress towards carbon neutrality , with carbon intensity falling by 53% in

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1034-736: The Isle of Man , and DC connectors to Northern Ireland, the Shetland Islands , the Republic of Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and Denmark. Since the privatisation of the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1990, the National Grid in England and Wales is owned by National Grid plc . In Scotland the grid is owned by ScottishPower Transmission in the south, and by SSE in

1081-787: The Supergrid . In the 2010 issue of the code that governs the National Grid, the Grid Code , the Supergrid is defined as those parts of the British electricity transmission system that are connected at voltages in excess of 200 kV. The 2.2 GW undersea Western HVDC Link from Scotland to North Wales was built in 2013–2018. This was the first major non- alternating current grid link within Great Britain, although interconnectors to foreign grids already used HVDC . In 2021

1128-527: The Western Isles which have limited connectivity ), Wales , and the Isle of Man . The following figures are taken from the 2005 Seven Year Statement. Total generating capacity is supplied roughly equally by renewable , gas fired, nuclear , coal fired power stations . Annual energy transmitted in the UK grid is around 300–360 TWh (1.1–1.3 EJ), with an average load factor of 72% (i.e. 3.6×10 /(8,760 × 57×10 ). The National Grid has

1175-521: The National Grid System are recouped by National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO) through levying of Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) charges on the users of the system. The costs are split between the generators and the users of electricity. Tariffs are set annually by NGESO, and the country is divided into zones, each with a different tariff for generation and consumption. In general, tariffs are higher for generators in

1222-401: The National Grid are low, there are significant further losses in onward electricity distribution to the consumer, causing a total distribution loss of about 7.7%. Losses differ significantly for customers connected at different voltages; connected at high voltage the total losses are about 2.6%, at medium voltage 6.4% and at low voltage 12.2%. Generated power entering the grid is metered at

1269-538: The National Grid: the users pay less if they can manage their usage so as to be less peaky. For each year's calculation, historic system demand metrics are analysed to determine three half-hour periods of high average demand; the three periods are known as triads. The periods are (a) the period of peak system demand, and (b) two other periods of highest demand which are separated from peak system demand and from each other by at least ten days. For power stations,

1316-530: The Republic of Ireland (500 MW HVDC East–West Interconnector ), and Denmark (1.4 GW Viking Link ). A further 500 MW link with the Republic of Ireland ( Greenlink ) is scheduled for 2024. Further potential schemes include links with Germany ( NeuConnect , 1.4 GW); Iceland ( Icelink , around 1 GW) and Morocco (3.6 GW from new battery-backed solar generation). The UK grid has access to large pumped storage systems, notably Dinorwig Power Station which can provide 1.7 GW for 5–6 hours, and

1363-564: The UK's electricity interconnection level (off-island transmission capacity relative to production capacity) was 6%. As of 2024 , the total capacity of these connectors is over 9 GW. They include direct-current cables to northern France (2 GW HVDC Cross-Channel , 1 GW HVDC IFA-2 , 1 GW ElecLink via the Channel Tunnel ); Belgium (1 GW HVDC Nemo Link ); the Netherlands (1 GW HVDC BritNed ); Norway (1.4 GW HDVC North Sea Link ); Northern Ireland (500 MW HVDC Moyle Interconnector );

1410-568: The United Kingdom was by Charles Merz , of the Merz & McLellan consulting partnership, at his Neptune Bank Power Station near Newcastle upon Tyne . This opened in 1901, and by 1912 had developed into the largest integrated power system in Europe. The rest of the country, however, continued to use a patchwork of small supply networks. In 1925, the British government asked Lord Weir ,

1457-622: The anticipated transfer in 1970 of some 6,000 MW from the Midlands to the home counties . Continued reinforcement and extension of the 275 kV systems was examined as a possible solution. However, in addition to the technical problem of high fault levels, many more lines would have been required to obtain the estimated transfers at 275 kV. As this was not consistent with the Central Electricity Generating Board's policy of preservation of amenities,

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1504-519: The chargeable demand is only the net site demand (per CUSC rule 14.17.10), so when the site is net exporting (i.e. total metered generation at that site exceeds total separately metered station demand), that separately metered station demand shall not be liable for demand TNUoS charges in relation to the station demand at triad. Triad dates in recent years were: This is the main source of income which National Grid uses to cover its costs for high-voltage long-distance transmission (lower voltage distribution

1551-482: The electricity transmission network of Great Britain National Grid plc , a utilities company based in the UK that also operates in the northeastern United States National Grid (India) , the electricity transmission network of India National Grid (Malaysia) , the electricity transmission network of Malaysia National Grid (New Zealand) , the electricity transmission network of New Zealand Geosurvey [ edit ] National grid reference system ,

1598-475: The five years to 2020. The phase out of coal is progressing rapidly with only 1.6% of the UK's electricity coming from coal in 2020, compared with about 25% in 2015. 2020 saw the UK go more than two months without needing to burn any coal for electricity, the longest period since the Industrial Revolution . Figures are again from the 2005 Seven Year Statement. Although overall losses in

1645-401: The high-voltage side of the generator transformer. Any power losses in the generator transformer are therefore accounted to the generating company, not to the grid system. The power loss in the generator transformer does not contribute to the grid losses. In 2009–10 there was an average power flow of about 11 GW from the north of the UK, particularly from Scotland and northern England, to

1692-464: The night-time engineers on 29 October 1937, by 1938 the grid was operating as a national system. The growth by then in the number of electricity users was the fastest in the world, rising from three quarters of a million in 1920 to nine million in 1938. The grid proved its worth during the Blitz , when South Wales provided power to replace lost output from Battersea and Fulham power stations. The grid

1739-429: The north and consumers in the south since there is generally a north–south flow of electricity. 'Triad demand' is a metric of demand which reports retrospectively three numbers about peak demand between November and February (inclusive) each winter. In order to encourage usage of the National Grid to be less 'peaky', the triad is used as the basis for extra charges paid by the users (the licensed electricity suppliers) to

1786-487: The north. Infrastructure connecting offshore wind farms to the grid is owned by offshore transmission owners . National Grid plc is the transmission system operator for the whole GB grid. At the end of the 19th century, Nikola Tesla established the principles of three-phase high-voltage electric power distribution while he was working for Westinghouse in the United States. The first use of this system in

1833-422: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title National Grid . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Grid&oldid=952544798 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

1880-422: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title National Grid . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Grid&oldid=952544798 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

1927-468: The smaller Cruachan and Ffestiniog . There are also some grid batteries . As of May 2021, 1.3 GW of battery storage was operating in the United Kingdom, with 16 GW of projects in the pipeline potentially deployable over the next few years. A 100 MW power Chinese-financed plant at Minety , Wiltshire was reported to be the largest in Europe when it opened in July 2021; when a 50 MW extension

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1974-522: The south coast has about 12% greater effectiveness due to reduced transmission system power losses compared to new generating capacity in north England, and about 20% greater effectiveness than in northern Scotland. There is a 40 MW AC cable to the Isle of Man, the Isle of Man to England Interconnector and a 260km 600MW HVDC cable to the Shetland Islands . The UK grid is connected to adjacent European electrical grids by submarine power cables . In 2014,

2021-505: The south of the UK across the grid. This flow was anticipated to grow to about 12 GW by 2014. Completion of the Western HVDC Link in 2018 added capacity for a flow of 2.2 GW between Western Scotland and North Wales. Because of the power loss associated with this north to south flow, the effectiveness and efficiency of new generation capacity is significantly affected by its location. For example, new generating capacity on

2068-403: The transmission system, generators must be licensed (by BEIS) and enter into a connection agreement with NGET which also grants Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC). Generators contribute to the costs of running the system by paying for TEC, at the generation TNUoS tariffs set by NGET. This is charged on a maximum-capacity basis. In other words, a generator with 100 MW of TEC who only generated at

2115-477: Was already exceeded by 1960. This rapid growth led the Central Electricity Generating Board (created in 1958) to carry out a study in 1960 of future transmission needs. Considered in the study, together with the increased demand, was the effect on the transmission system of the rapid advances in generator design resulting in projected power stations of 2,000–3,000 MW installed capacity. These new stations were mostly to be sited where advantage could be taken of

2162-527: Was created with 6,400 kilometres (4,000 miles) of cables – mostly overhead – linking the 122 most efficient power stations. The first "grid tower" was erected near Edinburgh on 14 July 1928, and work was completed in September 1933, ahead of schedule and on budget. It began operating in 1933 as a series of regional grids with auxiliary interconnections for emergency use. Following the unauthorised but successful short term parallelling of all regional grids by

2209-633: Was nationalised by the Electricity Act 1947 , which also created the British Electricity Authority . In 1949, the British Electricity Authority decided to upgrade the grid by adding 275 kV links. At its inception in 1950, the 275 kV Transmission System was designed to form part of a national supply system with an anticipated total demand of 30,000 MW by 1970. The predicted demand

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