In the debate over the (in)ability to square supply of renewable energy with demand, everybody points at the vagaries of the wind and the day-and-night rhythm of solar energy. But what about sudden spikes in demand? In the US that is caused by air-conditioning.
In Britain it is the TV: The largest-ever spike in night-time electricity demand occurred in the night of the Brexit vote, when everybody was glued to their set. But the National Grid announced that it had lined up 1200 MW (!) extra capacity so that everybody could watch the results of the historic vote. The previous biggest night-time surge in electricity demand came during the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, which was watched by a peak of 27.3m people in the UK. This dwarfs the usual sudden spikes in demand during advertisement breaks in popular programs, which send Brits rushing for their teakettles.
