Europe’s Power Grids Ready Backup Plans for Solar Eclipse Energy Dip
How Europe’s Energy Sector is Preparing for the Solar Eclipse
By Kate Abnett
Anticipated Impact of the Solar Eclipse on Power Generation
BRUSSELS, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Europe's power network operators have lined up back-up generation and grid-balancing measures to offset an expected dip in solar power during Wednesday's eclipse, they said ahead of the event.
- The solar eclipse is expected at 17h15 to 19h30 GMT on Wednesday, when the moon will pass in front of the sun, causing a dip in electricity generation from solar panels across Europe.
- The eclipse is expected to decrease solar power generation by up to 9.7 gigawatts across Europe, of which around 5GW will affect Spain and Portugal, data from the European network of electricity transmission system operators (ENTSO-E) and Spanish grid operator Red Electrica showed.
Countries Most Affected and Their Response Measures
- Grid operators in affected countries - including Germany, France, Ireland and Northern Ireland - all have measures in place to maintain electricity supply, ENTSO-E told Reuters.
- They include temporarily ramping up gas and coal power plants, and adjusting the "automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve" - a system which rapidly adjusts power output to maintain stable electricity frequency in the network.
The Role of Solar Energy and Additional Summer Challenges
- Solar energy produces around 13% of the EU's total electricity output, and plays an increasingly important role in meeting energy demand during summer, when power demand for air conditioning peaks, particularly in southern Europe.
- At the same time, Europe's power system comes under strain in summer from other factors - with heatwaves and low river levels forcing nuclear power plants to shut in recent days in Romania and Hungary.
Preparation and Expected Outcomes
- Some European grid operators have been preparing for the eclipse for over a year, by modelling the impact of shadow and light on power generation.
- The operators in France, Spain and Britain told Reuters they anticipated no disruption, in part because the eclipse will be in the evening, when solar power is lower anyway.
- For example, the eclipse is expected to temporarily knock out up to 1.8GW of French solar power - just 6% of the country's 30GW total solar capacity.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett, Forrest Crellin, Nina Chestney, Pietro Lombardi; Editing by David Holmes)