l'Actualité du Solaire

There is the duck curve, the Nessie curve, and now the shark curve in developing countries. The latter differs from the daily evolution of electricity demand that we usually see

The curve of the duck

The demand for energy increases early in the day as people wake up and businesses begin to open. In the late afternoon, demand for electricity peaks, often exacerbated by the use of air conditioning (and previously by millions of inefficient light bulbs).

However, as solar power generation increases, the demand for energy from the grid during the day decreases, resulting in a trough. This trough results in a rapid rise in demand in the early evening as soon as the sun sets. Increased energy demands are costly and difficult to supply without compromising the reliability of the grid.

The Nessie curve. :

Electricity demand in some Hawaiian islands is characterised in the evening by an even faster rise in demand than in California (partly because residential demand accounts for a larger share of overall energy demand).

The shark curve :

In emerging countries, the rise in evening consumption is sharper, due to the much lower industrial demand during the day and the much lower number of household appliances. This night-time peak is often invisible because it remains largely unsatisfied, mainly due to a lack of sufficient production resources and poor demand management. This peak is the cause of countless power outages and billions of dollars in economic losses around the world.

Load shedding is greatest in the early evening; however, this unmet demand for electricity is often not represented in daily demand graphs, in part because utilities do not like to talk about the large latent demand for electricity that cannot be met.

The shark curve is a feature of most developing countries in the world, before the spread of more efficient appliances, demand management, demand response, and greater use of batteries.

GreenTech Media of 22 May