This is why by 2020 smart meters are been installed in every home and business in the UK. Smart meters will enable energy companies to manage and monitor your electricity usage and can be used against the interests of the consumer.


https://rogerhelmermep.wordpress.com...-smart-meters/

They are connected to the European grid, so when there is no wind (like now) they have to get power from Frances Nuclear power generators.

We have the worse possible scenario right now, no wind and fog.

Like we can. you mean?

Well... that rather assumes there's no large weather system across Europe affecting 'renewables' in multiple locations. Like happens most winters. In that situation, EDF rubs it's hands with glee and exports power to the highest bidder. Of course if France doesn't have enough power to go around, then lights go out across Europe.

Easy, by not trying to replace base load generating capacity with renewables.

If you look at the graphs here-

http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

You'll see interconnectors to France & Netherlands often going negative, ie when we're exporting to France

Possibly but they aren't compulsory so just don't have one installed.

About 2gW max.

Germany went full retard as a result of Fukushima. Germany, obviously being vulnerable to tsunamis decided to close it's nuclear power stations. Then realised that was probably a bad idea, and is now in the process of building new coal power.

Problem Germany has is their Greens help prop up Merkel's SDP. We in the UK don't really have that excuse, yet seem to have allowed the Greens to decide our energy policy.

Which we're using to EXPORT 1GW at the moment.

Plus another 1GW from Ireland and 1GW from the Netherlands, nearly 10% backup capability.

Yes, how terrible allowing people who care about the environment to have a say.

Which disapears when the wind stops blowing.

Which doesn't amount to a hill of beans !

....Even if Storm Angus hadn't knocked out the interconnect !

Yes increasing their CO2 emmisions works wonders for the environment.
Maybe they should go green like the French.

http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/

Yes, the US grid seems particularly prone to cascading failures. In the 1970s, James Burke's "Connections" series had an episode featuring the 1965 Northeast blackout, which deprived over 30 million people of power for up to 13 hours. They did make some changes after that!

Are you trying to spin that as a Bad Thing?

So, looks like TemGB are propping up the French system.

Weird how they are consuming almost double the UK with about the same population size.

The public service concept is not merely a direct service to the public, it's also putting the national interest first. And that's not something private entities do.

Whether it happens or not we can blame successive governments and each other for our share of:

- climate change denial for delaying and failing to support more and for longer greener energy alternatives

-procrastination about getting new sources of energy on line for fear of pissing off folk who live in the likely area of new generation facilities.

-all the nimbys who want to run every kilowatt they can in their house but think the means of producing it should be anywhere so long as it's not near them

- everyone who sits outside on a sunny day while indoors their dryer is going full whack

-the people who get in their car rather than walk ten minutes to paper shop and then wonders why they are gaining weight and a borderline diabetic.

Depends on one's perspective I guess. If you're making money flogging power via the interconnectors, it's a good thing. If you're a humble UK taxpayer who's looking at ever increasing energy costs.. It's not.

The contractual arrangements, and figuring out who benefits isn't easy though.

What are the green energy alternatives for base load generation?

A neat demonstration of that here-

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.word...arly-for-drax/

The British government has guaranteed a minimum electricity price for Drax’s biomass project of 100 pounds per megawatt-hour (MWh) until 2027, which Drax said had not changed following the Commission’s approval.
"With the right conditions, we can do even more, converting further units at Drax to use sustainable biomass in place of coal," Drax Chief Executive Dorothy Thompson said in a statement.
The company said it could convert its remaining three coal-burning units to biomass in the next two to three years if the government sets the right conditions.

By 'right conditions', she means government offering waaaaay more than the market price.. To burn forests. Which apparently is 'in line with EU environment targets'.

It's a funny old world, unless you're being forced to prop up these scams.

Handy graphic to explain the issue-

https://www.xkcd.com/1162/

wind would be way over on the left for energy density. Funny that..

Would that be the windy Storm Angus? And the interconnect is working fine now, we're exporting electricity over both the continental ones.

And altogether they represent nearly 10% of our capacity, a whole mountain of beans.

Ireland has a good installed base of gas turbine power stations.