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为下一次停电做准备
李·斯托克斯，可持续发展解决方案负责人 & innovation for Mitie Energy, looks back at August’s UK-wide power outage and reveals how businesses can build resilience should the worst happen.
On the evening of Friday 9th August, a major blackout cut the power to a million homes and businesses in England and Wales. 在 resulting chaos, thousands of people were left stranded in train stations and airports, while traffic light failures ground some of the country’s busiest 道路停滞不前. Energy regulator OFGEM has launched an investigation into whether the 国家电网 and 12 local electricity 网络 companies breached their licence conditions in the event of the power outage.
But regardless of who’s to blame, the UK’s biggest blackout in more than a decade should serve as a wake-up call to businesses and the UK’s 能源行业. The power outage exposed the fragility of our electricity 网络. At 4:58pm on the Friday, a 740MW gas-fired power station in 贝德福德郡停止向电网供电. 不到两分钟，一个风电场 生产1.2GW off the Yorkshire coast also ceased its supply. 这个快速 succession of failures meant that the grid no longer had enough power to meet 需求. UK grid frequency dropped from the normal range of around 50 Hz, to a 危险低48.8 Hz. 国家电网 目标是保持频率在49以上.2赫兹，英国将面临完全停电的风险 指针指向48.5 Hz.
国家电网 did all it could to keep the power on. 自动 recovery processes including Demand Side Response (DSR) all kicked into action as planned, these should be able to compensate for a loss of supply a little / 2千瓦. 然而，英国仍然看到了 significant loss of power for end users as these measures were not enough to 纠正错误.我们遇到的9GW问题. 参与DSR的企业 scheme, such as Mitie’s clients, are committed to reducing their power usage from the grid in cases where 需求 for power exceeds supply. 的能力 these fast-responding schemes is around 900MW, with power stations held in reserve increasing production to provide additional resilience.
令人担忧的是，这种情况可能再次发生. 国家电网是 reported to have experienced three separate blackout “near-misses” in recent months, while the Grid Operator has also warned that greater dependence on renewable power sources could risk the 网络’s stability in the future.
There are, of course, steps the UK can take to mitigate 未来的灾难. One option is to increase the reserve capacity through 像DSR这样的倡议. But this solution is likely to be unpopular as it would increase 能源 costs for businesses and residential customers.
Alternatively, businesses now have a range of opportunities 把事情掌握在自己手中. 英国对电力的需求正在增加，但是 how much more stress this puts on the grid is up for debate. 最终，这一切 depends on a company’s personal risk appetite.
业务es could negotiate a ‘private wire’ Power Purchased 不依赖于电网的协议(PPA). 这将允许用户共享 savings with the generator, avoid grid charges, and protect itself in the event 又一次停电.
Another option is to deploy grid resilience by installing equipment such as uninterruptible power supply or a battery 能源 storage 系统(贝丝). This type of kit is a good way to protect a site should the 电网供电故障.
Companies that desire an even greater level of resilience have the option to create their own power and should explore on-site renewable 能源. This includes solar, wind power, and ground source heat pumps. 可再生 solutions like these could give businesses total independence from 如果网格实现正确.
现在是行动的时候了. 最近的停电可能没有 been a stand-alone event and creating a resilient system is the only way 公司可以确保他们受到保护.
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