Like the cycle of life where birds are connected to lions and humans to grass, the entire electricity value chain is interconnected.
A typical illustration of this interconnectedness is the relationship between the massive ice sheets on the Northern Hemisphere and the South Pole. Thousands of kilometres apart, they are hardly neighbours but what happens in one region has a surprisingly direct effect on the other in terms of ice melting and expanding.
In the study, they found that when the ice on the Northern Hemisphere stayed frozen during the last peak of the ice age, it led to reduced sea-levels in Antarctica and the growth of ice sheets there. When the climate warmed after that peak, the ice-sheets in the north started melting, causing sea-levels in the southern hemisphere to rise. This rising ocean triggered the ice in Antarctica to retreat quickly to about the size it is today.
Amazingly, the electricity value chain functions similarly. The grid power generation plants to transmission, distribution, and consumers are linked in a way that what happens at one end affects the other. It shows the flow of energy from gas production to its utilisation by the consumers, while the revenue is collected from the customers and used to pay each segment of the value chain.
If the generation sector works optimally, the effect would be seen in the amount of electricity distributed to consumers. In addition, a fault in the power grid would automatically lead to a power outage at the consumer end. For example, the National grid which collapsed on the 29th of November 2020 caused blackouts in several parts of the country. This is a clear illustration of the cycle of light.