![]() Those are the electrons that are free at the margin. The solar on my rooftop, my heat pump – that’s the baseload. From a consumer’s point of view, baseload is what I am producing myself. I think you should look at this the other way around. “The idea of baseload power is already outdated. What is the future of baseload generation in such a system? “That’s asking the wrong question”, says Holliday. In this sense we see ourselves as a stable long-term business around which new business models are emerging.” And you are unlikely to economically balance energy needs without some centrally dispatched generation, whether that’s offshore wind, nuclear power or gas. “We need big systems that are able to take power that is spilling over. That’s not to say that there will be no need for big networks in the future, Holliday adds. Now three of our scenarios have more than 20,000 MW of solar by 2035.” I made a comment to the Energy Minister four years ago that there was little probability we would have 20,000 MW of solar in the UK. That’s the capacity of two power stations. 1500 MW in the first three months of this year. “The amount of solar being added to the system is incredible. He notes that the speed at which the energy system is changing has taken many people by surprise, including himself. It represents a massive increase from the old days of centrally dispatched generation.” Recent government measures in the UK to limit subsidies for renewable energy may affect the timing of this development, says Holliday, but not the trend. Holliday: “This is a quadrupling in just a few years. According to these scenarios, it is likely that by 2020 small-scale, distributed generation will represent a third of total capacity in the UK. 1500 MW in the first three months of this year”įor the UK National Grid works with four Future Energy Scenarios, which are available on the internet and updated every year. ![]() That depends on political decisions, regulatory incentives, consumer preferences, technological developments. The pace of that development is uncertain. “The world is clearly moving towards much more distributed electricity production and towards microgrids. Nevertheless certain trends that are currently taking place are unmistakable, says Holliday. That’s why flexibility and agility are key.” But I believe there will be different answers for different places, rural and cities, and for different customers. “Some people think they have the answer, whatever it may be. People will want to interact with energy in many different ways.” This is why he warns against people who think they can predict the future. “What is crucial”, says Holliday, “is what consumers will want. Which makes it fascinating to talk to him. And since National Grid is a regulated (albeit publicly listed) company, he can speak from a reasonably independent position. Our strategy is now centred around agility and flexibility, based on our inability to predict or prescribe what our customers are going to want.”Īs CEO, since 2007, of a company active on two continents, and being responsible for both gas and electricity transmission and distribution, Steve Holiday finds himself smack at the centre of the whirlwind developments in the energy sector. ![]() We would build assets that would last decades and that would be sure to cover those needs. ![]() We used to have a pretty good idea of what future needs would be. “This industry is going through a tremendous transformation. The chief of National Grid also notes that energy markets “are clearly moving towards much more distributed production and towards microgrids”. Centralised power stations will be increasingly used to provide peak demand”, he says, in an exclusive interview for World Energy Focus, a publication of the World Energy Council produced by Energy Post. “From a consumer’s point of view, the solar on the rooftop is going to be the baseload. Steve Holliday, CEO of National Grid, the company that operates the gas and power transmission networks in the UK and in the northeastern US, believes the idea of large coal-fired or nuclear power stations to be used for baseload power is “outdated”. ![]()
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