London paid a record price for electricity during its heatwave

Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images

The UK's temperature last week was 40 degrees Celsius or more than 104 degrees F. On July 20th, as the record-breaking "Red Extreme" heatwave continued to linger, officials decided to pay a record price for electricity for South London residents.

The UK paid more than $2,000 per megawatt to import energy.

Yesterday #gas produced 43.0% of British electricity, more than wind 23.5%, nuclear 15.1%, biomass 7.2%, solar 6.0%, imports 3.8%, coal 0.8%, hydro 0.7%, other 0.0% *excl. non-renewable distributed generation pic.twitter.com/cRzVsCUKfP

— National Grid ESO (@NationalGridESO) July 21, 2022

The combination of the heatwave, a storm in Belgium affecting solar power output, and maintenance on overhead caused the National Grid's Electricity System Operator to make the higher-than-usual purchase. A specific circuit is required to get the energy to the right place.

The power purchased at that rate was only enough to supply about eight households for a year, and additional power was purchased at lower rates.

The op-ed states that power from elsewhere in the country should have been a solution. The system may be vulnerable due to failures to invest in grid upgrades and resistance to installing more above ground equipment. Next time, even high prices may not be enough, and as a side effect of a warming planet, residents could face power cuts in the future.