Since, and unless electricity has properties I’m not aware of, it’s not possible for electric power plants to produce only and EXACTLY the amount of electricity being drawn at an given time, and not having enough electricity for everyone is a VERY bad thing, I’m assuming the power plants produce enough electricity to meet a predicted average need plus a little extra margin. So, if this understanding is correct, where does that little extra margin go? And what kind of margin are we talking about?
In: Engineering
In the UK grid, there are facilities for using surplus power – specifically the facilities in North Wales, where excess power is used to pump water up to a reservoir at the top of a mountain. This reservoir is a quick method of dealing with sudden demands on the grid as it can be “turned on” in a matter of seconds simply by opening (huge) valves.
[https://youtu.be/McByJeX2evM?si=7h9W2Wv7mfuCylIc](https://youtu.be/McByJeX2evM?si=7h9W2Wv7mfuCylIc)
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