Transcript

MAGGIE PHILBIN

In winter, Britain uses on average 50 gigawatts of electricity. That's 50 billion watts. The grid meets that demand using seven gigawatts from nine nuclear power stations. Coal power stations generate around 25 gigawatts, gas power stations make a little more, and renewables, including wind, provide around 10 gigawatts. Another six gigawatts comes from abroad or other sources.

At the moment, the grid has more than enough power to supply all our needs. But over the next 10 or 20 years, that will change. Government have set ambitious carbon reduction targets, at least 34 per cent less carbon emissions by 2020. To hit that target, we have to close almost all our coal power stations.

And as our nuclear stations reach the end of their lives, almost all will need to be switched off, too. So within 10 years, Rachel and the team at the grid might not have enough electricity to meet all our needs, and that could be catastrophic. Day to day, to make sure there's no disruption, Rachel and her team make a detailed energy plan, estimating the amount of power they think the nation will need minute by minute.

RACHEL

We've got years worth of demand data, and we use that then to build up what we think we're going to get today looking at things like the weather, time of day, what day of the year it is, and make our forecast.

MAGGIE PHILBIN

And as the morning progresses and we as a nation settle down to work, the grid's predictions help her manage any change in demand.

MAGGIE PHILBIN

So it's 20 past 11. And if you take a look over here, the graph has really levelled off.

RACHEL

Yes, Yeah. During the morning into the early evening, it does have quite a flat shape there because people are now kind of doing things consistently. So people are sat at their offices working. They're not changing their uses of electricity, so we tend to get a flatter profile.

MAGGIE PHILBIN

This morning, the plateau is about 45 gigawatts, and this is mainly supplied by three key types of power station.

So in terms of managing that power demand, what do you use?

RACHEL

Well, we've got a lot of our steady, reliable generators on. So we've got a lot of gas and coal on and the nuclear with six there as a base load.

MAGGIE PHILBIN

And this is the heart of our looming energy problem. Our base load is currently supplied by power stations that are closing. So why are we turning off our precious stations?

Coal currently forms the backbone of our supply, providing the largest single power contribution. But coal is very dirty, with one of the largest carbon footprints of any fuel. So to meet our 2020 carbon reduction targets, six major coal power stations are closing.