National Grid Preparing For Huge World Cup Power Demand Surges

10th Jun 2010 00:01

LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. electricity and natural gas network operator National Grid PLC (NG.LN) said Friday it was preparing for huge surges in power demand during televised matches as England begins its World Cup football campaign. If England reaches the final, National Grid is forecasting a power surge of 3,000 megawatts. The surge in demand would beat the previous record for a television program, which was set during the 1990 World Cup semi-final between England and Germany. "The World Cup is an exciting time for us and making sure that demand is met is down to the skill of the forecasting team and also the engineers in the Control Center, who do the second by second balancing of demand and supply," said National Grid's Electricity Operations Manager Jon Fenn. "It must be one of the few jobs where watching World Cup matches is essential to your work rather than a distraction, because we need to know to the second when half time and full time occur to be ready for the surges in demand," Fenn said. The surge in demand, known as a TV pick-up, occurs most days due to popular TV programs and soap operas, but the surges are likely to be much higher for World Cup matches, especially those involving England. TV pick-ups happen because people watching television will put off doing things such as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea or getting a drink from the fridge, but then all do it at once when a break in the program comes, such as half-time or full-time in a match. The TV pick-up for England's first match against the U.S. is forecast to be up to 1,200 megawatts at half-time and about 1,100 megawatts at full-time. The TV pick-up in England's second match against Algeria is expected to be higher at 1,300 megawatts forecast at half-time. However, England's third match against Slovenia, which is played in the afternoon, is expected to be the lowest pick-up of about 1,000 megawatts at half-time. The World Cup in being played in South Africa and runs from June 11 until the final on July 11. -By Selina Williams, Dow Jones Newswires +44 207 842 9262; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 10, 2010 19:01 ET (23:01 GMT)