Football fans could trigger major spikes in electricity demand during the World Cup as millions across Britain switch on TVs, boil kettles and head to the fridge during half-time and full-time.
The National Energy System Operator says each of England and Scotland’s group games could create a national electricity pickup of around 600MW, roughly equal to the combined electricity demand of Glasgow and Leeds.
Energy analysts at the Electricity National Control Centre are preparing for the biggest World Cup ever staged, with 40 extra games compared with previous tournaments.
NESO says that could mean as much as 60% more electricity demand across the full competition than during Qatar 2022, equal to around 18GW more electricity use over 39 days.
The biggest spike could come during England’s opening game against Croatia on 17 June, when demand is expected to rise by up to 800MW.
That would be higher than the 600MW surge recorded during England’s 1966 World Cup win.
Scotland’s return to the tournament after 28 years is also expected to move the dial, though its late-night group games against Haiti, Morocco and Brazil fall during the quietest hours for electricity use.
NESO still expects demand could rise by up to 200MW as fans stay up late to watch.
The control room is used to these sporting surges.
Demand often jumps during breaks in play as millions of people make tea, open fridges or switch on other appliances at the same time.
The current football record came during England’s 1990 semi-final against West Germany, when the penalty shootout defeat was followed by a 2,800MW surge, equivalent to more than one million kettles being switched on at once.
More recent examples include a 1,400MW spike during England’s 2018 World Cup penalty shootout win over Colombia and a 914MW rise at half-time during England’s 2022 quarter-final against France.
This World Cup is also expected to be the cleanest yet for British TV viewing. NESO says around 40% to 50% of the electricity used is expected to come from renewables, a huge shift from USA 1994, when viewing was largely powered by coal.
Craig Dyke, Director of System Operations at NESO, said: “Watching this year’s World Cup will almost certainly be powered by the cleanest electricity in history. And our engineers will be working around the clock to balance supply and demand, meaning fans can be sure to enjoy every moment of the beautiful game, whatever the result.”
Thanks to more efficient TVs and devices, Britain could use around 20% less electricity to watch matches than in 1998, when Scotland last appeared in a World Cup, despite the population growing by 11 million.
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