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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Jillian Ambrose

Fans for fans: power demand surges as England viewers cope with heatwave

Harry Kane in a white England shirt runs on a pitch with a blurred yellow-shirted player in the foreground
England’s match added further stress to Great Britain’s grid, causing electricity demand to increase by about 300MW at half-time and 225MW at full-time. Photograph: DeFodi Images/Shutterstock

A handful of Great Britain’s gas power plants were paid almost £4m to generate electricity for just a few hours on Tuesday evening as millions of sweltering viewers turned to air conditioning, electric fans and icy drinks during England’s second World Cup game.

The heatwave has caused electricity prices across Europe to surge this week amid higher demand for cooling and a string of power plant outages due to the record high temperatures.

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