Challenges of the GB Electricity System and government involvement? 1

[brasovpvb]

Hello,


A bit of a longer question and with potential ( pun intended ) for ramification and further discutions.

What are in your opinion the main challenges facing the GB electricity system over the next 5-10 years?

Don't think only about technical challenges....if you have ideas about power markets, ancillary service markets as well as regulatory environment....please feel free to elaborate.

Some answers would probably be: demand and generation profile changes, Brexit, political uncertainty, generation mix and high renewable penetration, transition to DSOs, etc

What do you think the government should do to address these or what should it's role be? What can the Scottish government do? ( Tricky question as the scots depend on Westminster but at the same time they want to be a world leader in renewable technologies)


Feel free to raise challenging and interesting points!

Looking forward to your answers!

 

[ScottyUK]

A starting point could be to have a credible strategic energy policy, and establish an organisation which could deliver that policy. Perhaps it could be modelled on the CEGB which was rather damned good at doing exactly those things.

Stop the politically-driven closure of the coal stations until there is reliable baseload generating capacity to replace them. During the cold spell earlier this year so the last half-dozen coalers were operating at or above their declared capacity as other generation failed to deliver.

 

[brasovpvb]

Hi ScottyUK. Why are you sayinf the current energy policy is not credible?

 

[ScottyUK]

What energy policy - simply leave the nation's electrical supply to market forces?

[ul]
[li]We're massively dependent upon energy sources we have little control over, and those we do have some control over are left to the vagaries of the weather.[/li]
[li]Our largest gas storage site was decommissioned in the last year or two.[/li]
[li]Our coal-fired fleet has been decimated.[/li]
[li]There's been no nuclear new-build in 30 years[/li]
[li]CCGT's aren't being built because in our distorted energy market gas is worth more as gas than as electricity produced from gas[/li]
[li]The government have committed to a disturbingly large debt in order to build Hinckley Point 'C'.[/li]
[li]Diesel-fired peaking plants ('STOR' in this brave new world) with dreadful efficiencies are being built all over, at the same time that diesel-powered vehicles are being demonised for air pollution.[/li]
[/ul]

Yes, it's a cracking energy policy!

 

[Hoxton]

Scotty sums it up very well.

 

[edison123]

Scotty

Us Indians used to worship CEGB as power policy guru till the late 80's. Then the f...ing market forces happened.

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[brasovpvb]

With the push to meet the decarbonisation targets.....we are stuck with the renewables.
Also the push towards Embedded generation.....that doesn't help.

So what should the gov do about it......and what can the Scottish government do?

 

[ScottyUK]

Muthu,

Something like that. I can't put my thoughts on the government of that era into print on Eng-Tips, they would be deleted immediately. ;-)

brasovpvb,

The government's primary goal when defining their energy policy should be to provide a reliable, stable, economically viable source of energy. 'Economically viable' has to include investment for the long term, setting out strategy measured over decades rather than by election cycles. Private sector investment wants a return over a much shorter timeframe, so the kind of massive decades-long investment required by a generation / transmission / distribution system doesn't fit well with how business wants to work. Policy and finance needs to be moved back into the public sector, separated from the comings and goings of party politics.