Partial eclipse due in morning, hours before clocks go forwards for ‘summertime’
A partial solar eclipse taking place for two hours tomorrow morning has been tipped to cause a 23% reduction in the National Electricity System’s production scheduled for that time, REN – Redes Energéticas Nacionais said today.
“The phenomenon will occur in mainland Portugal between 9.30 and 11.30 am and will cause an estimated loss of generation of 560 MW [megawatts], which represents around 8.5% of consumption and 23% of the production of the National Electricity System (SEN) scheduled for this time,” REN said in a statement.
The company said that, in collaboration with other transmission system operators in the European electricity sector, it has been preparing the National Electricity System (SEN) for the effects of the eclipse. The phenomenon, in which the moon will partially cover the sun for two hours, will be visible throughout mainland Portugal.
During the eclipse, REN estimates a loss of 10 MW per minute and a recovery at the rate of 22 MW per minute, “which will cause operational challenges related to the balance between generation and consumption in the SEN and to controlling the deviation in the interconnection with Spain”.
Therefore allocating additional reserves with hydro and/or thermal generation will be necessary.
These estimated figures do not consider the solar production associated with some self-consumption production units, which will also affect the increase in consumption, said REN.
A note to readers: remember the clocks ‘spring forwards’ overnight between Saturday to Sunday (almost all digital devices will make the change without your intervention, but appliances like kitchen clocks might not).
Source: LUSA
