Networks
Here is a transcript of a speech on grid stability that I gave to the International Energy Credit Association in Valencia on 16 June 2026... ................................. Good morning, and thank you for inviting me to speak here today. This is a risk audience, so [...]
Below is the transcript of a speech I gave at a Net Zero Watch event in Edinburgh on 9 March 2026: . Good evening, and thank you for inviting me to speak today. Scotland is often described as an electricity superpower. Not only is [...]
Electrification has become the default answer to almost every energy and climate question. Heat? Electrify it. Transport? Electrify it. Industry? Electrify it. In policy circles, electrification is often treated as a frictionless substitute for fossil fuels: cleaner, simpler, and largely inevitable. In this new [...]
2025 could come to be characterised as the year the lights began to flicker across Europe as threats to energy security begin to manifest. We almost ran out of electricity in Britain in January. We did have a blackout at Heathrow Airport in March [...]
Good afternoon everyone. I’d like to say I’m delighted to speak today about the CCGT retirement risks we face, but that would be a lie, because while it’s always nice to be with Institution of Power Engineers, it’s far from a delightful topic. However, [...]
Warnings have emerged of the potential for further blackouts in Spain after Red Eléctrica de España (REE) reported steep voltage swings in recent weeks during periods of low demand, high solar output and slow response from generation. REE has asked the regulator (CNMC) for [...]
With the Feast of All Hallows rapidly approaching I thought it would be apt to explain how the grid is haunted by a concept that doesn’t really exist. A pre-occupation with a made-up concept risks the security of our power grids. In this blog [...]
Recently, I was asked: what if Edison had won the Battle of the Currents? As power grids today are increasingly dominated by inverter-based generation, could a direct current (dc) grid be more effective than the alternating current (ac) grids we rely on today? Would [...]
The Iberian blackout demonstrated the importance of voltage control and reactive power, and how a weak grid, with poor controls, was brought down by a single faulty solar inverter. In this second part of my analysis of the Iberian blackout, I examine the specific [...]
The Iberian blackout demonstrated the importance of voltage control and reactive power, but these concepts are poorly understood even by people within the electricity sector. In this two-part series of posts I will look at voltage, active power and reactive power in power grids [...]