The COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown has had significant impacts on the energy sector, including dropping electricity demand levels and government policies to support energy customers.

Analysis by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) on the first week of the lockdown found a 13% decrease in total electrical energy consumption over the week relative to a comparable week in 2019. While people spending more time at home means there has been an increase in domestic demand, UKERC found that this has been more than compensated for by the reduction in commercial and industrial demand from businesses shrinking their activities.

National Grid Electricity System Operator’s (ESO) Summer Outlook report predicted that demand will drop to between 96% and 80% of normal levels.