Explaining shifts in UK electricity demand using time use data from 1974 to 2014

Anderson, B.; Torriti, Jacopo

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2018.09.025

Cited by 33 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Australian borders closed to all non-residents 2 22 March Level 2 lockdown: Social distancing rules imposed, non-essential services cut, pubs, clubs, bars, gyms, entertainment venues shut, restaurants, cafes etc., restricted to take-away service only 3 30 March Schools begin going student-free, aside from children of essential workers 4 2 April Level 3 lockdown: "A person must not leave their principal place of residence except for essential needs including work, food, medical and exercise, outdoor gatherings only up to 2 persons or with members of household" 5 3 April Beginning of Queensland school holidays 6 11 April Queensland state borders fully closed to all except those with a permit 7 2 May Relaxation of some Level 3 lockdown measures: national parks and non-essential shops and services reopen, small gatherings outside allowed 8 11 May Kindergarten, Prep, Year 1, Year 11, Year 12 resume school 9 25 May Other year levels return to school 10 Table 1. Cont.…”

Section: Marchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rather than only reporting what changes to energy use have occurred, as per existing data from the energy sector [4,8], our data allows us to additionally answer how and why these changes have occurred, providing insight into how households have responded to and managed life under lockdown. By including personal accounts of COVID-related changes to household practices, this work builds on previous work which seeks to understand social trends and events as manifest in electricity use patterns [9]. Secondly, we report on the engagement of households with their energy use feedback systems during lockdown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drivers behind Residential Electricity Demand Fluctuations Due to COVID-19 Restrictions

et al. 2020

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The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly reoriented the lives of billions of people across the globe toward working, learning, and subsisting from home. This paper examines the consequences of this disruption of electricity use in Australian households. Using high-frequency electricity monitoring from 491 houses and per-circuit monitoring and in-depth interviews with 17 households, the paper (1) compares changes in energy use before and during COVID-19 lockdown, (2) quantifies the key drivers of changes in energy use experienced by households during lockdown, and (3) tracks households’ interactions with energy use feedback. The findings identify significant increases in certain aspects of household electricity use directly related to COVID-19, including increased cooking and digital device use. Yet despite the government mandate requiring a large proportion of the population to remain at home, overall energy use among the majority of Queensland households monitored actually decreased during lockdown versus prior, driven primarily by a reduction in air conditioner use during lockdown as the weather cooled. Further, despite significant quantified and self-reported changes in energy use, users who had energy use feedback installed accessed their dashboards less during lockdown than they did prior. The paper discusses these results in the context of statistics on COVID-19 related energy demand fluctuations elsewhere, and the implications for the provision of energy use information to residents during significant disruptions such as lockdown.

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Section: Marchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers behind Residential Electricity Demand Fluctuations Due to COVID-19 Restrictions

et al. 2020

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“…The relative resistance of evening demand to substantial change compared with the morning period is not surprising given that evening demand is more strongly driven by domestic activities and the multiple factors that constrain when things are done (Anderson & Torriti 2018;Torriti 2017;Walker 2014). Some of these, related to school and work-related travel, as well as work itself for those furloughed, were relaxed during the lockdown period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, the significant disruption to work patterns for much of the population, together with the lack of space-conditioning requirements for many workplaces, reductions in peak-time electrified transport and the closure of schools, may all have led to lower morning peak consumption. This is especially true where household practices are no longer temporally constrained by school or work schedules or drop-off/commute times (Anderson & Torriti 2018).…”

Section: Electricity Demand Under Covid-19 Restrictions: What Would Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Covid-19 lockdown: impacts on GB electricity demand and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions

Anderson¹,

James

2021

Buildings and Cities

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In early 2020 a wide range of social and economic restrictions were implemented in most countries in response to the global coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19). This paper uses national electricity generation data to examine the extent to which overall British electricity consumption deviated from 'normal' consumption patterns during the UK's spring lockdown period, and how the combination of consumption reduction and variation in carbon intensity affected greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with electricity consumption. The paper shows that ongoing trends in the reduction of electricity demand and generation carbon intensity mean that lower year-on-year demand and lower emissions would have been expected even in the absence of Covid-19. Controlling for this, the paper estimates lockdowndriven below-trend electricity reductions of up to 20% in the morning peak period, 11% in the daytime and 9% in the evening peak period in April, declining to 6%, 4% and 4%, respectively, by June. These correspond to marked reductions in morning (06:00-08:00 hours) and daytime demand during all restriction periods studied, but relatively smaller reductions in evening demand, and some evidence of a relative increase on Friday and Saturday evenings. PRACTICE RELEVANCE The observed changes in demand are likely to be repeated in future national or local restriction periods and provide insights of value for grid and local distribution network management. This is especially true if such restrictions are required in spring 2021, as looks increasingly likely, but are also relevant to the winter 2020-21 heating season, which is likely to exacerbate the demand for electric heating, although gas remains the dominant heating fuel source in homes. However, unlike fossil fuel-based transport, the changes observed do not translate to direct emissions reductions due to the mixture of fuels used to generate electricity in Britain. Electricity generation emissions were either close to or above the trend during this period, and the effect is especially noticeable for the traditionally carbon-intensive evening peak period.

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“…Whilst people can report not only primary, but also secondary, tertiary etc. activities, the majority of diaries comprise only primary activities (Anderson and Torriti 2018). Spot price data was accessed from a publicly available dataset (APX, Spot Market, available at: https ://www.apxgr oup.com/tradi ng-clear ing/spot-marke t) and for the same year electricity load profiles with a time resolution of 30 min were collected from a dateset by the UK Transmission System Operator (available from: https :// www.natio nalgr id.com/uk/elect ricit y/marke t-opera tions -and-data/data-explo rer).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Household electricity demand, the intrinsic flexibility index and UK wholesale electricity market prices

Torriti

2020

Environ Econ Policy Stud

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During peak electricity demand periods, prices in wholesale markets can be up to nine times higher than during off-peak periods. This is because if a vast number of users is consuming electricity at the same time, power plants with higher greenhouse gas emissions and higher system costs are typically activated. In the UK, the residential sector is responsible for about one third of overall electricity demand and up to 60% of peak demand. This paper presents an analysis of the 2014–2015 Office for National Statistics National Time Use Survey with a view to derive an intrinsic flexibility index based on timing of residential electricity demand. It analyses how the intrinsic flexibility varies compared with wholesale electricity market prices. Findings show that spot prices and intrinsic flexibility to shift activities vary harmoniously throughout the day. Reflections are also drawn on the application of this research to work on demand side flexibility.

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Explaining shifts in UK electricity demand using time use data from 1974 to 2014

Cited by 33 publications

References 29 publications

Drivers behind Residential Electricity Demand Fluctuations Due to COVID-19 Restrictions

Drivers behind Residential Electricity Demand Fluctuations Due to COVID-19 Restrictions

Covid-19 lockdown: impacts on GB electricity demand and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions

Household electricity demand, the intrinsic flexibility index and UK wholesale electricity market prices

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