TV viewers were left watching blank screens yesterday as another London mains failure forced GMTV to delay their live broadcast. Crew and presenters were unable to prepare for the show after a burst water main cut power to the South Bank, affecting the London Television Centre Studies and transmitters where shows such as GMTV and This Morning are filmed. The show could eventually be seen by analogue viewers nearly twenty minutes later – with presenters hastily made-up and some with wet hair. Digital viewers had a longer wait as the signal operates on a separate supply that was not restored until almost 8 am.

Despite the apologies of the presenters and producers, Industry sources are claiming that the incident (which would have surely lost significant advertising revenue) could have been easily avoided. These sources claim that following budget cuts, ITV has refused to repair or replace a faulty emergency power system that should have kept the power on. An ITV spokesperson claimed they were ‘currently putting in place new back-up procedures to address any future issues of this nature’.

A note to the producers – Riello UPS have been addressing the issues of maximising protection while minimising cost of ownership for some time. As a result, a range of our UPS and power protection systems are keeping the cameras rolling in a number of studios across Britain….

One of the UK’s most popular bands were silenced last Friday after a power failure forced them to cancel their gig at London’s O2 Brixton Academy. The Ting Tings have apologised to fans, as late notification meant many were not told of the cancellation until they arrived at the concert, leaving hundreds disappointed. The band will eventually re-schedule the gig, however this is not an isolated incident. It’s the third time in as many months that the venue has suffered from power failures resulting in cancelled shows and a loss of both revenue and reputation for all concerned.

Apparently, the failure was part of disruption to the wider Brixton area – disruptions which appear to be occurring more and more frequently as the strain on the Capital’s supply increases. With development for the Games taking power priority, and general consumption expected to increase by over 80% in the next 5-7 years, which shout will our decision makers hear first? The powerless public? Or the sound of silence? Off course

I heard the BBC release news on a report from Cap Gemini today about the state of the UK’s electrical infrastructure. This latest report calculates the gap between supply and demand and states that the gap will narrow rapidly. Demand continues to rise and power stations are due to close at a faster rate than new ones can be brought on line. The gap between supply and demand is forecast to drop to just 2.2%. Will there be more power cuts this winter? Well the forecasters are predicting a cold snap but looking for some light in the gloom, they say that a shortfall in industrial output will help reduce demand for electricity. Every cloud has a silver lining – so what happens in 2009/10 when the economy picks up?

Well our current advertising slogan is that it only takes one second without power to crash a network. Looks like Lastminute.com had more than their fair share of power troubles recently – losing almost half a day of trading due to a power loss. You can read the full story at Computer Weekly.com which covers the power outage at their Colt data centre which is so far being put down to circuit breaker problems. The resulting power loss also affected their subsidiary sites including Medhotels.com, Holidayautos.co.uk and Travelocity.co.uk. Circuit breaker discrimination is a key part of any power continuity plan and if this was a case of random tripping, the route cause could be down to a plethora of problems on site. Off course Riello UPS offers a complete power audit service and would be only too happy to investigate this further if called in to do so. The service has been used successfully by a number of clients over recent years who have come to rely on our professionalism in power protection.

Thanks to my contacts at Data Power Protection who gave me a link to a Daily Mail website article the other day about the state of the UK’s electrical supply network. The newspaper article discusses the state of UK power generation and lack of investment which will see us facing regular blackouts and rising electricity costs over the next few years. The basic problem is that our existing power stations are coming to the end of their working lives and our government has not initiated new-build programmes as quickly as required. For Riello UPS and UPS suppliers like Data Power Protection, this means continued market expansion and opportunities but not just for UPS. We would also expect to see a huge demand for standby generators. Personally, I just wonder if local, on-site power generation will be as common a feature of the modern home as a satellite dish and Nintendo WII.

As if proof were needed that the world is on the brink of an energy crisis, look no further than South Africa! The country is rich in gems and precious metals and some of the world’s largest gold and platinum mining companies. This week they suspended production due to a ‘national emergency’ and spate of recent power cuts, which have ground business to a halt in many areas. 

Two things come to mind: firstly, thank goodness this is 2008 and not a bygone era! Mining company owners and bosses back then would have cared less about health & safety and minors being trapped underground by a power cut than they obviously do now! Drastic though it may seem, they took the right course of action shutting everything down. Secondly, if these companies are some of the world’s largest (and one would assume, richest) in their field, why do they not join forces and lobby the Government for more action on energy issues; including infrastructure construction and maintenance? Surely, above all these days, this is the one element that is an obstacle to a country’s economic growth. 

I love this quote from Goolam Ballim, chief economist of Standard Bank Group, based in South Africa: 

“Power is like Oxygen, it’s essential for any half-modern economy.” 

Absolutely! And protecting its source should be foremost in every business owner’s mind. 

For more information on power protection, visit: Riello UPS

It’s interesting that people assume the electricity that comes out of the mains power supply is as pure as distilled water. It isn’t. It is contaminated by all sorts of ‘nasties’ that can lead to sags, surges, brownouts, harmonics, flicker, frequency deviations, interference, interruptions, distortion as well as complete blackouts. In turn, these problems can have dire consequences. Firstly, they will shorten the life of equipment by causing wear-and-tear and they can also cause complete breakdown.  

With computer systems, these problems are magnified as equipment tends to be sensitive to fluctuations in voltage current. They can result in data corruption or loss, which for many companies may be devastating in terms of business continuity, reputation and customer service. In extreme cases, harmonics for example, has been known to cause fires.  

What can be done?  

UPS is the answer. Not only does it protect equipment from complete mains power failures, it also contains filters and conditioners that keep the voltage current to within an acceptable level and cushion against many of these problems. This can be helped with a little insight and research into which power problems are most prevalent at your site, their magnitude and frequency. This information will enable you to choose the right solution for you. Large sites may benefit from power monitoring, a service offered by specialist (like Riello UPS) to record disturbances over a specific time period.  

For more information about power problems visit Riello’s website.

Increasingly more of the UK’s electricity is being generated from natural gas. Okay, so it would seem we can all breath again now that agreement for gas supplies to Ukraine in 2008 has been signed. Most of Russia’s gas exports to the European Union (EU) are piped through Ukraine so it is important that there is agreement between the two nations. Russian gas currently accounts for one quarter of the EU’s supplies but that could rise in view of the fact that the UK, for example, is expecting to import gas to meet up to 80% of demand by 2020. The agreement on both price and terms of gas supplies to Ukraine will ensure a more stable supply of Russian gas to European consumers. The Department for Business (BERR) wants to allow private firms into gas supply projects to ‘help maintain reliable supplies’ and I think this is a good idea; the less politically motivated suppliers are the more we as consumers are able to extend our influence and thus secure supplies. As I see it, the problem with importing gas is that we have little control over security of supply. If the infrastructure is allowed to break down or an international dispute results in the supply being cut off (as happened in January 2006 to Ukraine), we are powerless to react. We can’t change international politics but we can advise on secure power protection, which is becoming ever more critical in these uncertain times in which we live.

We are not the only country suffering severe problems. Earlier this week Barcelona entered a state of emergency as they lost mains power for 2 days due to a substation cable fault. The failure started a chain reaction which lead to a further 6 substations failing and left hospitals and other such institutions reliant on emergency standby power generators and battery back-up systems.

The consequences of a mains power failure can at times be quite staggering. I am convinced that such incidents follow chaos theory.

Take Southern Water, who were recently prosecuted by the Environment Agency for allowing sewage to escape into the River Alver. The cause – you guessed it – a mains power failure at their Peel Water Treatment Works in Fareham.

Riello UPS has worked with a number of water companies to help overcome such problems. Some of the installations have to be specially engineered to cope with an environment that can at times be damp and on occasions even flood.