Households may be encouraged to maximise their energy consumption this summer by running appliances such as dishwashers or charging their electric cars in order to help balance the grid.
As the UK grid is decarbonised, it becomes increasingly reliant on low carbon sources of energy such as wind and solar. This means that at times electricity generation can exceed demand, especially in the summer when solar generation is at its peak and demand for heating is negligible.
To ensure a balanced system, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) has said it will update its Demand Flexibility Service in the coming months that will see measures implemented to encourage consumers and businesses to ramp up their energy consumption.
It could see energy firms asking their customers to adjust power consumption during specific ‘events’, usually lasting 30 minutes to an hour, to help absorb some of the excess power in the grid. Typically, this is encouraged with discounts to energy bills, with the exact...