Unlocking Electricity’s Secrets: Behind the Grid | Episode 1: From Sea to Shore

Get ready to embark on a thrilling journey 'Behind the Grid' as we lift the curtain on the UK's electricity system. Join our host James Stewart as he ventures into the unknown, exploring how electricity is generated and distributed. From monitoring cables under the sea to maintaining towering pylons, witness the dedication behind our clean energy initiatives.
In Episode 1, 'From Sea to Shore,' discover the vital role of interconnectors like BritNed in sharing energy with countries like The Netherlands. Meet the faces behind the scenes as they shed light on the importance of international energy collaboration. Explore the impressive infrastructure of interconnector sites, from the DC hall to the valve hall, and gain insights into the future of clean energy transmission. Plus, get a sneak peek into future episodes, promising even more revelations about our evolving electricity systems here at National Grid.
For more info, visit: www.nationalgrid.com/about-us...

[@CesarAngeles28]

Great episode. I am doing my PhD on the decarbonisation of the UKs energy industry and the electricity grid is one of the most fascinating complex system I have ever seen - Great content and I hope we can get more of these - especially what is happening at the distribution level and all the challenges from LCTs and the rollout of renewables. Congratulations and that James is such a charismatic bloke. Just loved it ❤

[@khdr829]

Yeah, indeed a great episode, and I want to understand how renewable energy affects the grid, as well as the threshold beyond which an oversupply of renewables could compromise grid stability.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

More technical details please- what voltage/current is used for the DC interconnect, how does the ac/dc conversion work etc.

[@UKsystems]

This Hass to be aimed at people who just want to find out more, unfortunately without loads of detail

[@dansonamission]

450kV DC, it showed it on the pole.

[@hpLaptop-nq9io]

Inverters, reactors, rectifiers that sort of jazz

[@hpLaptop-nq9io]

Still got some lovely old XP machines running the show :)

[@MrSoundman1955]

Don't sweat about the XP computers. It is a very,very stable rock solid OS in use for decades. All the OS bugs were killed off many years ago. It runs on cool slow machines that run 24 /7 /365 without a hitch. This is industrial control software connected to actual machines no need for speed.

[@Gazr965]

Our lives are powered by food and water, electricity just makes thing easier.

[@royeasto885]

Fabulous. More of this please. I would love to hear lots more detail about all of the grid.

[@nationalgriduk]

Much much more on the way! Our future episodes will feature the other parts of our Grid, stay tuned!

[@andyroid7339]

12:49 - "What would happen if I went in there?" (viewers think- please go in there!)

[@xxwookey]

25:15. A fine example of motor-normativity: 'London is an hour and half in that direction'. Presumably he means 'by car'. Distance would be a lot more useful. One might wish to travel in some other way, or indeed just have distance given in distance units.

[@LambySRI]

I worked on the construction of the isle of grain CNG mentioned on here.

[@khdr829]

I'm really looking forward to Episode 2.

[@nationalgriduk]

You're in luck! Keep your eyes peeled next week.. 👀

[@Ifemioshesin]

Cant wait to get notifications on future episodes, thanks for sharing...

[@Jonathan_O]

Love that they have a Windows XP computer running in the background 😂. Very high tech!!

[@Jablicek]

Their systems might run stably only on XP. Also, it's a pretty solid OS. Still in use all over the world in places where it's needed because of the programmes running on it.

[@drttgb4955]

I'm in the same situation, you don't want to run a mission critical program(not software) on a machine that stops because it doesn't have the latest doodas en gegaws.

[@Jonathan_O]

I know Windows inside and out, I have several MS certifications. While XP was a great OS for its time a lot has changed since the days of WinXP. Other than a few very specific situations, I would never run windows XP unless it was isolated from the Internet and even then there’s several reasons not to use it. If you truly must run a very old application, that what Compatibility Mode was designed for.

[@Jablicek]

@@Jonathan_O Compatibility mode has its own issues and isn't as stable as running on the original OE. And, if your machine(s) are isolated then it doens't matter quite so much.

[@humphshumphs]

Well worth watching. Looking forward to the next episode 😀

[@screwdriver5181]

The first uk to France was much earlier than the 1980’s ! I was taught about the first one when I was at UNI in 1963. One of the reasons for using dc was the difficulty of synchronising the UK and Mainland Europe.

[@mfx1]

The main reason is much higher efficiency over long distances removing the synchronisation issues was a side benefit.

[@xxwookey]

@@mfx1 Except the distance to France is only 25 miles so it's not really a very long cable on the scale of things. We have much longer (100km?) AC cable segments on the UK grid. The DC/AC cost crossover used to be a few hundred km, but has come down as converter stations have got much cheaper. So for the early French interconnector the ability to connect unsynchronised grids must have been a significant consideration. I think DC is much better underwater too so that helps justify the converter station cost.

[@Brian3989]

With alternating current in cables you get interaction which reduces efficiency. Keep current flowing in one direction works better. Years ago when visiting a network control room in West Midlands the network map had a note against a Welsh connection "Beware of 22 deg phase difference", perhaps not exact wording.

[@dhanushkamadhusanka2988]

Greate bro❤

[@stellasutton2766]

Very informative, well paced, and entertaining. I am looking forward to the next episode. Well done 👏 ✔️ x

[@neillangholz840]

Really enjoyed this, well done. One concern.. Windows XP on your terminal equipment? 15:07

[@humphshumphs]

Nothing wrong with XP - as long as it's not 'online' it'll be fine lol 🤣🤣

[@PeAcErPeAcH]

You'd be surprised how stable XP is sometime

[@James-ef5sg]

Came here to say this 😂

[@gery4870]

So interesting !! More videos of power lines and the grid !!

[@nationalgriduk]

You'll love episode 2! We dive deeper into the transmission grid and take you into one of our most interesting substations..

[@gery4870]

@@nationalgriduk Thanks for the response :)

[@xxwookey]

How do they do the 'burying 1m' bit? It's easy enough dropping the cable off the back of the boat, but trenching it on the muddy seafloor sounds a bit tricky. Maybe if it's just mud all you have to do is vacuum up some silt, or aerate it so the cable sinks in? Or maybe it's just really soft and the cable sinks in anyway under its own weight?

[@bjornroesbeke]

I've been inside (as a visitor) such converter stations for project Nemo link. Banks of semiconductors sure are different from a "plain" transformer. I do wonder why they're using paper/lead insulated cable instead of materials such as XLPE.

[@simonyapp]

Fantastic, but please don't dumb it down so much! it's not kids' TV.

[@johnwindess1641]

I agree with you in that but there is loads of people who wouldn’t understand it

[@UKsystems]

If you want a detailed description, you probably understand enough to do your own research

[@KinMielDelaCruz]

pp

[@PaulM_aka_4c21]

Grace’s Amazing Machines on CBEEBIES would give a more technical view than this dumbed down effort.

[@yeyefjfn8298]

٧٦٧جج😊كاد 😊​@@johnwindess1641

[@protectiongeek]

4:28 - National Grid does NOT own the transmission network across the entire country (UK). The transmission networks in Scotland are owned primarily by ScottishPower and SSE. NG is the national _operator_ of the transmission networks across the UK but liaise with control rooms in Scotland.

[@trumpetrider565]

Love it! When’s ep2?

[@nationalgriduk]

Soon! Keep an eye out on our channel 👀

[@bastian775]

Interesting how this works. also: it's 2011, Windows XP is already 10 years old, yet someone thought. yeahh let's use Windows XP on our brand new installation,and continue to use it 10 years+ after support has ended. unless of course they had already installed in 2007. you would not want to use vista in 2007 for anything critical.

[@abusasha478]

Not connected to “dirty” internet. Only connected to internal “internet”

[@Gazr965]

Quite amazing really. Gaz UK

[@mikemellor759]

This is an excellent episode. I would like more technical information and answers: is there just one grid in Europe or are we connecting to each country’s grid? Why are there 2 connectors to France. Why did the Norwegians decide against a second connector. Will you do an episode on the impact of the Danish energy island?

[@patdbean]

10:47 you missed out the ELEClink cable that goes via the channel tunnel

[@nationalgriduk]

Hi there, we focused on the National Grid interconnectors in this episode, there are a few more not in our control, a full list can be seen here on OFGEM's website www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/interconnectors

[@chrisconklin2981]

I just found your channel and am impressed. I live in southeastern USA. In viewing your videos I notice one big difference, that being I see few solar panels. Then it occurred to me, Y'all don't have any sunshine. Here in sunny Dixie many people with roof top solar are interested in adding power onto the grid. My hope is to have a decentralized power grid. What is happening is that the consumer will also become a producer. Thanks. May the Grid be with you.

[@thomasgade226]

UK and Netherlands do have a lot of solar. Not as much as as south USA, but increasing. But they have a lot more offshore wind power per citizen.

[@user-un1yb8bn5j]

Yesterday the UK’s electricity production was 29% solar. More than any other source.

[@chrisconklin2981]

@@user-un1yb8bn5j That is great and thank you for the information. However, that is only part of why I made a comment. My feeling about this channel is that it is "Grid" producer oriented. I used the word decentralized to convey a potential trend that balances the power (political) between consumers and producers. Hypotheticality, if every consumer had solar and battery backup this would have a positive impact upon grids.

[@user-un1yb8bn5j]

@@chrisconklin2981 totally agree, I have solar and battery storage as well as a stake in a cooperative solar park and wind farm. I was more just addressing a misconception within the UK population that we don’t have enough sun for solar. Because of our position as a country in the northern hemisphere we have long days in the summer so production can go on for a long time. I’m a great believer as it sounds you are that the more the consumer can produce for themselves the better.

[@chrisconklin2981]

@@user-un1yb8bn5j That's great. Just to let you know, I have been helping you Brits out. Every day I wrap up a bundle of sunshine-BTUs, walk down to the Gulf of Mexico and toss the package into the Gulf Stream. The package drifts 6,500 km to end up warming the UK shore.

[@tonystanley5337]

Its "an" interconnector, because there are many connections to many countries.

[@djlorenz11]

And of course the SCADA controls run on windows XP... Hopefully they will not be connected to the internet by mistake 😅

[@protectiongeek]

An increasing amount of grid SCADA infrastructure in the UK is addressable using TCP/IP and so it does kinda use the internet. Just how secure it is remains to be seen!

[@screwdriver5181]

With its own fibre in the cable there is no reason to use and risk the web. It’s just that new it engineers have been web conditioned.

[@protectiongeek]

@@screwdriver5181 not all transmission and (especially) distribution level assets have integral fibre or auxiliary fibre cables installed, so there will be reliance on shared comms networks to an extent.

[@drttgb4955]

@@protectiongeek Use an APN, created by your service provider, if you want to connect remotely.

[@koysdo]

as a registered electrician, I loved the episode! cant wait for the second

[@grahamcook9289]

Matte Hinde fails to mention the two interconnections between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and between Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. He also doesn't mention there are in fact 3 ICs between the UK and France with the third one going via the Channel Tunnel. Or come to that the interconnecter between GB and the Shetlands.

[@nationalgriduk]

Hey Graham, correct, we only mentioned National Grid interconnectors in this episode. A full list of interconnectors can be seen on OFGEM's website: www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/interconnectors

[@showme360]

Its a bit of a concern that our end is on an island, when sea levels are set to rise! ooops.

[@user-gn1bs3vi4v]

اهلا ❤

[@ihatnecksered]

Very interesting. As a retired DNO worker I'm looking forward to a section on distribution. Oh, and lose the 'Kid's TV' presenter 😉

[@johnbewick6357]

And now we can no longer afford to use electricity for industry we have outsourced a massive amount of production to China and India who are polluting the world with no emissions regulation whatsoever. Lost count how many new coal fired power stations China and India have built in the last couple of years, but it exeeds the number we had in total in Uk a few years ago. Where has it all gone so wrong ?

[@unsaonce2001]

😢

[@tc9634]

Make it less like kis's TV and more like a boring ASMR documentary from before TV became over commercialised in the 90a

[@zubairahmadawan9236]

😊. 👍. ❤ F R O M T A X I L A . 🇵🇰

[@BritishAnts]

Please use real terms, an hour and a half that way is nothing in terms of an answer! Is that skipping, helicopters or cycling? Same goes for 1 thousand kWh, isnt that a mega watt? I dont advertise £1 as 100 pennies so don’t do it with measurements! Dont get me started on soccer pitches or Olympic swimming pools, not seen either but educated in acres and square miles lol

[@luckybhati9186]

😢