Matching of Power Station Output To Load
To keep a stable voltage and frequency, the power generated at any instant has to be kept close to the load imposed. To do this, National Grid continuously forecasts load ahead on various timescales, 7 years, annually by season (winter outlook and summer outlook), daily, hourly, and shorter time frames.
For the rolling 24 hours ahead, it estimates what the load is then likely to be based mainly what the load is at the moment of forecast, but adjusted for likely weather changes, day of the week and other special events. it then schedules the required power stations, plus the appropriate reserve. As time progresses, the forecast is constantly updated until real time is approached, when the balancing is largely automatic using spinning reserve.
Read more about this topic: Control Of The National Grid
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