UCL IEDE students visit National Grid Control Centre

UCL IEDE students have a trip to National Grid Control Centre in Wokingham as part of the IEDE Smart Energy Systems module. UCL-Energy’s Dr Catalina Spataru, Lecturer in Energy Systems and Networks, lead the trip, with David Lenaghan, Innovation Specialist at National Grid, acting as host.

The visit began with the Control Room, which provided an impressive example of how key infrastructure is managed in real time. Students had the opportunity to view the Gallery under the guidance of expert engineers who explained the different aspects of operations at National Grid.

After the Gallery tour, David Lenaghan and Phil Ashton educated the students on key aspects of National Grid’s role in ensuring real time balancing of the power system as well as the history and structure of the electricity industry. Their lecture also included information on company structure and statistics, balancing the system with a focus on energy forecasting and frequency control and operation of the network and outage planning.

Dr Spataru said about the trip: “The students enjoyed learning how things work behind the scenes in the control room of the National Grid and to hear about future challenges. These visits are an important part of the teaching process because it helps students to understand how the system works in reality, as well as improving their understanding of the different backgrounds needed to work in such an environment.”