Electricity Maps’ Post

🔍 Data Insights: Net load & curtailment — Part 1: Great Britain When looking at wind generation patterns in Great Britain, some things are noticed immediately — there’s higher output in winter and strong daily fluctuations. But there is another trend: wind generation is consistently lower overnight. Is it because the wind dies down at night? Not always. In many cases, this drop is likely caused by curtailment: wind turbines being turned off despite available wind. So would consuming at these times avoid wasting renewable energy? Not necessarily. Curtailment can happen for several reasons and accurately identifying and predicting it is more complicated than it seems. However, a great signal to help grid balancing and avoid renewable curtailment is net load — defined as total demand minus wind and solar generation. It tells us how much of the demand must still be met by dispatchable (usually fossil) sources. 📉 When net load is low, renewable generation is high relative to demand. 📈 When net load is high, the grid relies more on fossil sources and polluting peaker plants. Net load is also a great signal for grid decarbonization, allowing optimization that reduces the gap between renewables and demand, and therefore the storage capacity needed. This is an opportunity for both operators and consumers, who can intelligently shift their loads to periods of low net load. Stay tuned for next week’s insight to see such optimization in action on the California grid. Interested in optimizing electricity loads with forecasted grid signals such as net load? Reach out to us: https://lnkd.in/dUtyk_CH #curtailment #netload #greentransition #decarbonization