- 1,500 MW half-time demand increase for England’s opening match with Paraguay – equivalent to 600,000 kettles being switched on.
- Half-time demand increase of 1,600MW for England - Trinidad and Tobago match
- 1,900MW half-time increase for England-Sweden match - expected to be highest demand increase for entire first round tournament matches
As the globe’s finest footballers take to the pitch for World Cup glory in Germany, electricity transmission company, National Grid, is forecasting electricity demand in Great Britain to soar by 1,500 Megawatts at half time for England’s opening game with Paraguay on Saturday 10 June 2006.
The company further expects demand to increase by 1,600 Megawatts at half time for England’s match with Trinidad and Tobago on 15 June; culminating in [potentially] the largest first round tournament demand increase of 1,900 megawatts at half-time when England play Sweden on 20 June in their final first round game - equivalent to three quarters of a million kettles being switched on at the same time.
Keeping pace with the peaks and troughs in Britain’s power demands during and after games – known as ‘TV pick-ups’ – will be down to National Grid employees at the Electricity National Control Centre in Berkshire. They will be working to ensure demand is met through careful forecasting, planning and balancing the network, and working closely with generators.
Alan Smart, Energy Operations Manager at National Grid said: “Our teams work around the clock to ensure the electricity supply generated by Britain’s power stations meets the nation’s needs every minute of the day.
“To make sure demand will be met throughout the World Cup; our energy analysts have been scouring the 64 fixtures and identifying those matches that are likely to generate the highest TV pick-ups. We’ve also used data from previous world cups to help plan for a range of scenarios, including extra time and penalty shoot outs”.
For National Grid, the countdown to kick-off for this World Cup began five years ago, with research into the long-term impacts on electricity demand and supply. This included the predicted demand from major power consumers and planned maintenance to the network.
National Grid’s Transmission Operations Manager, Edgar Goddard, added: “Our control engineers are hugely experienced in managing the electricity system and dealing with fast changes to demand around major televised sporting events. Other factors, including live weather data and seasonal trends also form part of our demand forecasting.
“Our demand forecasts are over 98% accurate, which demonstrates our effectiveness in managing the network and making sure we balance supply and demand.”
National Grid’s demand forecasts support independent research undertaken by Tickbox.Net, who surveyed 2,500 consumers throughout the country and found that around 63 per cent of the UK are planning to watch at least one England game; 80 per cent are planning to watch the first England match with Paraguay and around 65 per cent of the population will be turning on kettles at some stage throughout the match.
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CONTACT:
For more information, contact National Grid Press Office:
Sarah Newth 07866 488894
Chris Mostyn 01926 655275
Gemma Goodman 01926 655273