Steep rise in GB power imports in first half of 2024
Power Engineering International
Posted on: 7 August 2024
A new report by Montel Analytics shows that the net value of Britain’s imports soared by more than 80% in the first half of this year.
In the first six months of 2024, Britain imported 18.9TWh more power than it exported – an 81.7% increase on its net imports in the second half of last year, finds new data from Montel Analytics.
The rise was attributed to combination of factors, including milder than usual weather, increased power flows from France as a result of French nuclear units coming back on stream alongside lower French demand, the Viking interconnector operating for the whole six months, and a steep rise in imports from the Netherlands and Belgium due to an increase in solar generation in Germany and the Netherlands.
Montel said the average increase in interconnector flows from Britain to France totalled 1345MW, while from Denmark this figure was 400MW due mainly to the Viking Link between the two countries going live in December 2023. There were also average rises in power flows to Britain from Belgium (230MW), the Netherlands (195MW) and Norway (100MW). Meanwhile, exports to the island of Ireland increased (82MW).
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Phil Hewitt, director at Montel Analytics, said: “The sharp rise in net power inflows to Britain in the first six months of this year is unsurprising given the wide range of factors that influenced it. Other than a prolonged mild spell of weather, the availability of the French nuclear fleet improved markedly, meaning that it increased output by 10% compared to the second half of last year and low French power demand meant that some of this excess power was dumped into Britain.
"This resulted in net imports from France into GB doubling to 11.7TWh in the first half of 2024 compared with the last six months of 2023. Excess power from France also flowed into Belgium, resulting in a 90% increase in net imports from the latter country to GB."
Hewitt added: “Meanwhile, a rise in solar generation in Germany and the Netherlands led to a tripling of net imports from the Netherlands into Britain, and the Viking Link interconnector was responsible for the start of meaningful power flows from Denmark. In addition, electricity exports from Norway to GB increased by 10% but this follows a usual trend as traditionally Norway nearly always exports a good proportion of its excess power to Britain.
“The overall rise in net power imports to GB would have been higher had it not been for a 16% increase in power exports from Britain to Ireland over the past year. However, this didn’t do much to offset the much steeper rises in electricity flows from the continent and the Nordics.”
Montel Analytics' data shows that Britain was the second biggest net importer in the first half of 2024, sourcing 18.9TWh, of which 11.7TWh came from France and 4.8TWh from Norway. Italy remained the biggest net importer, sourcing 25.4TWh from outside the country, of which 9.4TWh came from France and 10.3TWh from Switzerland.
