Not again!

[Buckman]

On Monday we had a power failure from 6am until just after 8am. Today we have had another power failure started at 5.27am came on for about 10 minutes at about 7am and now off again and we have been told no power until about 1pm. I struggle to get one bar on the mobile phone for connecting to the Internet to post this and view emails etc.

Raises the point that we are too dependent on Internet and electric. Cannot transfer money from one account to the other for shopping as bank websites time out quickly and you get blocked for suspicious behaviour. What is it going to be like in the future when demand for electric doubles?

 

[JTQ]

Here in the "sticks" things have got way better with the passing of time, so the future is not necessarily going to be nothing but gloom.

Power cuts were the norm when the overheads were three separated cores, two 10 day power outs being the worse. Change of overheads to a bundled cable, that situation changed over night.
Same with internet, fibre to the village, cabinet near our home we go from unstable few mbs, to rock solid 75 mbs.
Again, with mobile, putting an aerial on the hill, has transformed signal strength.

As regards power supplies, two new undersea cables coming in just close by, they claim will enable the continent to keep us going, when ours falls short.
All looking positive for the future here, on those counts anyway.

 

[otherclive]

On Monday we had a power failure from 6am until just after 8am. Today we have had another power failure started at 5.27am came on for about 10 minutes at about 7am and now off again and we have been told no power until about 1pm. I struggle to get one bar on the mobile phone for connecting to the Internet to post this and view emails etc.

Raises the point that we are too dependent on Internet and electric. Cannot transfer money from one account to the other for shopping as bank websites time out quickly and you get blocked for suspicious behaviour. What is it going to be like in the future when demand for electric doubles?

It’s unlikley that excess demand has caused your power loss. It’s more likely to be a fault in your area distribution system. Sub station equipment issues do arise from time to time, or a problem with an underground circuit that was detected, or has occurred with no warning.

 

[Buckman]

Actually the point of my post was about how much we rely on electric and the Internet not the cause of the power failure which was due to Covid19.

 

[otherclive]

Here in the "sticks" things have got way better with the passing of time, so the future is not necessarily going to be nothing but gloom.

Power cuts were the norm when the overheads were three separated cores, two 10 day power outs being the worse. Change of overheads to a bundled cable, that situation changed over night.
Same with internet, fibre to the village, cabinet near our home we go from unstable few mbs, to rock solid 75 mbs.
Again, with mobile, putting an aerial on the hill, has transformed signal strength.

As regards power supplies, two new undersea cables coming in just close by, they claim will enable the continent to keep us going, when ours falls short.
All looking positive for the future here, on those counts anyway.

Is that the new cable from Blyth to Norway which is due online this year?

 

[otherclive]

Actually the point of my post was about how much we rely on electric and the Internet not the cause of the power failure which was due to Covid19.

Then why did you include a comment about when demand doubles if you were not inferring that demand caused a problem in your supply? Yes we are reliant on electric just as years ago our parents were reliant on coal for heating, transport and power. But just because demand will rise there is no automatic link to the reliability of supplies. In fact the installation of quick start generators associated with solar farms, gas fired small power quick response generation and battery banks plus undersea cables should increase resilience of the power supply grid.

 

[JTQ]

Is that the new cable from Blyth to Norway which is due online this year?

No, it's the two from France [Normandy?] one coming into Lee on the Solent, and the other into Eastney Portsmouth.

I was surprised it is DC with converter stations here, but then mega power electrical transmission systems, are way off my domain.

 

[Buckman]

I certainly would not recommend any one have air source heating installed as woke up this morning to a freezing cold house.

Then why did you include a comment about when demand doubles if you were not inferring that demand caused a problem in your supply?

If this is what it is like due to an power outage imagine what it will be like when there is a demand. Would other countries have the power to hold us to ransom if they decide to up the costs of the supply to the UK? I guess it is not worth contemplating. Why can't the UK be self reliant for power?

 

[otherclive]

Air source heating isn’t really relevant to the thread as clearly the installation is improperly specified fir the intended duty. Gas central heating would not have worked either. Undersea connectors have been in use for years and I’m not aware of any “ransom issues”. They are two way interconnectors and I assume other countries electrical demands will rise too so what do you think they are doing to allay their citizens concerns.

Currently our demand is asymmetric with most being used during the daytime. We will have to get used to using electricity more during the off peak hours. The advent of smart meters will aid this rebalancing of demand.

I too yearn for the days when we were self reliant. How I miss the candles being used at home or in the pub, or my Dad on a three day week, or programmed outages as the grid couldn’t supply due to the power stations being picketed.

 

[Buckman]

Air source heating is very relevant as no electric, no heating! We used hurricane lamps and candles quite often even though no issue with power stations. Saved using fuel on the generator. Never worked a 3 day week my grand dad, dad or myself. In the old days no load shedding like there is nowadays where we lived.

 

[JezzerB]

Not really-most people are on mains gas powered by gas but with all of its electronics based on electricity-we are oil-if we have a power cut we have no heat and no hot water as the oil boiler pump and electrics - errr-don't go! The only alternative is a generator ,, solid fuel heating in a single point-ie our bottled gas fire in the lounge would work as would a wood burner.

 

[Sam Vimes]

The situation will only get worse as more and more people take up so called smart products that rely on electricity and internet - The Internet of Things. In the event of a power cut you wont be able to see remotely what's in your fridge; be able to operate your automatic pet feeder; see who's ringing your bell; control your heating; order your takeaway; get into your car; or not burn your pizza in the microwave......

We often have power cuts - so far about 4 or 5 this year, one of which last over 14hours and the other 6hours. (The compensation is going to pay for two camping chairs )

Recently we have been in the process of transfering our phone lines to BT's Digital Voice because we have fibre to home. It has some advantages for us. However, buried in the small details is the fact that it wont work in a power cut and you have to consider an alternative method of making emergency calls.

Most people have mobile phones but reception at our home is dodgy or non-existent. By coincidence if there's a power cut there's no mobile service even if we hang out the window.

BT advise customers to get Battery Back Up units if you have no other means of making an emergency call. Naturally you can buy them from BT at a price far in excess of what you can get from Amazon China. Ofcom make recommendations to providers (BT) to supply BBUs to vunerable customers or those with no mobile signal. BT have agreed to suppling me with these - you need two -and the orders is raised but they seem reluctant to actually deliver them. Time will tell.

FWIW: We have an Interconnector from Scotland to Wales known as the Western HVDC Link. It periodically brakes down. It's one way of exporting our Wind Power which can be more watts than we can consume in Scotland. When wind power can't be used operators are paid not to generate - these are Constraints Payments. In 2020 for the whole of the UK, operators were paid over £274m not to generate anything. You and I are paying for this!
(Constraint payments are also made to conventional generating stations but far less than wind power operators)

 

[Raywood]

My nephew who runs a power supplier, says that he is confident that the power will be there although possibly not in the right places for some. Possibly it is wise to keep your mobile well topped up, so that ay least you can ring for help.

 

[Hutch]

Now thats a thought, buying a small Standby power bank( battery pack) for the phone, that is solar recharged. Where is my Amazon account.

 

[JTQ]

Now thats a thought, buying a small Standby power bank( battery pack) for the phone, that is solar recharged. Where is my Amazon account.

For what is is worth and it might be so obvious that it is missed, we have two 13,000 mA mobile power banks that we recharge on those sunny days when the van's solar system indicates the main battery is fully charged.
Energy, that otherwise we can't harvest, because we have no where to put it after the sun has topped the battery.
So a plug in dual 2.6 A, USB socket looks after these power banks.

 

[otherclive]

Now thats a thought, buying a small Standby power bank( battery pack) for the phone, that is solar recharged. Where is my Amazon account.

We have three power banks which are always kept fully charged, or recharged after use. One can provide reasonable light too.