Britain’s biggest energy supplier is urging people to avoiding using electricity during this week’s solar eclipse.
Octopus Energy is asking customers to delay using washing machines, dishwashers and other plug-in devices between 6pm and 8pm on Wednesday, when the Moon is expected to block up to 95pc of sunlight.
The eclipse will send solar generation plunging just as electricity demand begins to rise as millions of people return home from work.
The slump could knock out as much as 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of supply, according to the National Energy System Operator (Neso), which runs Britain’s electricity grid. That is enough electricity to power roughly half a million homes.
Gas-fired power stations will have to be turned on to make up some of the shortfall, alongside other sources of electricity.
While there is no suggesting that the eclipse could trigger outages, Octopus said it was encouraging people to use less energy to negate the need for gas power and so lessen carbon emissions.
The company is offering customers free electricity at a later date if they cut their usage during the eclipse.
The plea showcases Octopus’s wider push to persuade households to change when they use electricity, rather than how much they consume.
The company, which overtook British Gas as the country’s biggest supplier last year, has promoted time-of-use tariffs for years. Its “Agile” tariff, for example, changes electricity prices every half hour in line with wholesale costs.
The changing price is meant to encourage people to use more electricity when its plentiful and less when it is more scarce. This is becoming more important as Britain increasingly relies on wind and solar power, which can produce huge amounts of electricity at some times and little at others.
