Britain’s energy system is facing growing pressure from extreme summer heat as rising demand for cooling collides with reduced generation and constrained network capacity, Ordnance Survey has warned.
The National Energy System Operator has issued its second warning of potential electricity shortfalls in consecutive months as the country enters another period of record temperatures.
The warnings suggest energy demand is no longer concentrated around predictable winter peaks.
Tom Gray, Utilities Market Development Lead at Ordnance Survey, said heat affects both electricity consumption and the ability of generators to supply it.
He said: “Summer heatwaves are pushing energy demand beyond typical winter spikes and with NESO issuing its second shortfall warning in consecutive months – record temperatures are turning what was once the quiet season into one of the year’s hardest tests for generation and delivery.
“Beyond higher temperatures driving demand for cooling devices, the efficiency of generation falls too during periods of extreme heat, as water-cooled nuclear and gas plants produce less just as low wind and fading evening solar generation concentrates supply into the hours after the sun drops where the risk of energy shortfalls is highest.”
High temperatures can also reduce the amount of electricity carried by overhead lines as they sag and lose capacity. Drought-stressed or storm-damaged trees growing around power infrastructure create a further fault risk.
Mr Gray said much of the grid was built for a cooler and more predictable climate. Better location data could allow operators to identify vulnerable infrastructure and act before faults or capacity shortages occur.
The challenge is expected to intensify as new data centres add large volumes of demand to an already congested connections queue.
“Understanding which areas carry the least amount of strain on our energy systems and where climate stress could play a part in adding to this will enable planners to place new capacity clear of corridors where congestion will be highest.
“A parallel move toward more localised distributed forms of co-generation, including rooftop solar, batteries, geothermal energy stems and wind power, requires the same location-based understanding to ensure that power is produced nearer to where its needed most.
“This will play a part in easing the summer evening shortfalls that heatwaves are now exposing and helps build more resilient and reliable local energy systems.”
Ordnance Survey said location intelligence could support decisions on where new generation, storage and data centres should be built – while helping network operators understand how climate risks and electricity demand intersect across the country.
