England's second World Cup match against Ghana caused a surge in electricity demand, with gas power plants earning nearly £4 million to generate power during the evening as millions of fans turned on air conditioning, fans, and kettles amid a heatwave.
Power Demand Spikes at Half-Time and Full-Time
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) paid about £3.85 million to gas power plants to fire up between 5:30pm and 10:30pm on Tuesday. This included £2.7 million for SSE's Seabank gas plant near Bristol and £1 million for Uniper's Killingholme gas plant in North Lincolnshire. Smaller payments were made to other gas plants and energy storage projects, while £2.9 million was spent on importing electricity from the continent.
Electricity demand increased by about 300MW at half-time and 225MW at full-time, according to Shivam Malhotra, head of power trading at LCP Delta. This was driven by millions of viewers switching on kettles. However, the much-discussed hydration breaks during the match did not produce a noticeable change in demand, Malhotra noted.
Heatwave Exacerbates Grid Stress
The heatwave has caused electricity prices across Europe to surge due to higher demand for cooling and power plant outages. In Great Britain, gas plants were paid up to £1,000 per megawatt-hour, about 14 times the average power market price in June last year. Malhotra said there were no signs of market manipulation, adding that prices reflected scarcity.
Solar power waned through the evening, forcing Britain to rely more on gas plants and imports. High pressure caused wind speeds to plummet, reducing renewable energy supplies. About five power plants in Britain were forced to cut generation due to heat.
Imports and Warnings
Neso issued a rare summer power supply warning on Wednesday but later cancelled it after securing about 1.7 gigawatts of imported electricity from the continent, paying around £1,400 per megawatt-hour—nearly 20 times the average price in June last year.
In France, four nuclear plants lowered output because high river-water temperatures made cooling reactors difficult, as temperatures breached 40°C.
