TV pickup

TV pickups occur during breaks in popular television programmes and are a surge in demand caused by the switching on of millions of electric kettles to brew cups of tea or coffee. Kettles in the UK are particularly high powered, typically consuming 2.5–3.0 kW and create a very high peak demand on the electrical grid. The phenomenon is common in the UK, where individual programmes can often attract a significantly large audience share. The largest pickup of the day is usually at 21:00, when several popular TV programmes end or go to commercial breaks. == Response ==

A sudden increase in demand, unmatched by an increase in supply, causes a drop in the mains frequency across the Grid (locally the voltage may also be affected due to changes in reactive power flows). The National Grid Energy Balancing Team is responsible for ensuring an adequate supply of electricity and try to ensure a frequency of between 49.5 and 50.5 Hz is maintained. To prepare for pickups the team runs a computer program that compares the current day with corresponding periods over the past five years to predict the size of demand, Sporting events like tennis matches are especially difficult because of the impossibility of predicting when one will end. International football finals are a particular problem as research has shown that 71% of people in the UK will watch them at home instead of public venues such as pubs. It is important to predict demand as precisely as possible as electricity grids are not capable of storing electricity in large quantities and all power stations have a lead-in time before generation can begin. Balancing teams attempt to meet short term fluctuations with "fast reserves" that are quick to come online, backed up with longer term fossil fuel-based "balance mechanism units". == Records ==

The largest TV pickups recorded in the UK are: Other events can cause even bigger pickups for the National Grid than television events. Immediately following the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999 there was a record demand of 3000 MW. This was the largest rapid increase that the grid had ever experienced but it had been anticipated and sufficient generating plant were made ready to accommodate the additional demand. Around 1000 MW of the demand was due to traditional TV pick-up demand caused by kettles, with the remainder arising from the return of people to their workplaces. The Grid also plans for the opposite effect, a co-ordinated mass switch-off of appliances. Boxing Day is consistently, according to one employee, "the lowest of the low" power usage. At midday on 5 January 2005 a three minutes silence in remembrance of the Boxing Day Tsunami resulted in a 1300 MW temporary drop in consumption followed by a sudden 1400 MW rise. The 6 September 1997 funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales caused a 1000 MW drop. == See also ==