Summer Outlook 2020
15 Apr 2020 - 2 minute read
In our Summer Outlook, we outline Great Britain’s projected electricity needs for the summer ahead.
Head of National Control Roisin Quinn explains how the report helps the industry prepare for the summer months ahead and document’s two main messages.
As the Electricity System Operator, we sit at the heart of Britain’s electricity industry, working in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders to manage the national electricity system and ensure safe, secure and reliable electricity.
We produce reports like the Summer Outlook to help energy companies with their planning, so they can best provide electricity for the coming months, and we also set out how we will tackle any operational challenges we expect to face.
This summer sees us face a new challenge – the public health measures designed to tackle the global spread of the COVID-19 virus have changed how electricity is used across the economy.
With less industrial activity and more people working at home, we have seen lower than usual demand for electricity.
This is something we plan for and you can read more about how we tackle low demand.
We also don’t know how long lockdown is going to last so we can’t say for certain how long demand might remain lowered.
To make sure that we provide the industry with the best guidance we can, we have published three scenarios for this summer, rather than a single forecast.
We have undertaken extensive testing of these scenarios to ensure we are prepared for any outcome and they’re based on the experiences faced by other electricity networks across Europe.
Under these scenarios, we are confident that we will be able to meet Great Britain’s electricity needs across the summer.
Under any of these three scenarios:
- We are confident that there will be sufficient supply available to meet electricity demands for the coming summer.
- We have past experience of managing the system during periods of low demand and the right tools available to do this.
Collaboration across the energy industry
Whilst the Summer Outlook is an important document to support industry planning, we can’t manage the network on our own.
We will be in constant communication with the Government, Ofgem, energy companies and industry trade bodies to ensure that collectively we can tackle the challenges we expect to face over the coming months.