Load and net load definition
How Electricity Maps defines total reported load, total load and net load.
Different system operators might have different definitions for what they report as the total load. Some include losses, and discard storage, others don't.
To simultaneously guarantee a unique definition, global coverage, and provide access to system operators data, Electricity Maps provides access to different load signals:
- Total reported load represents the load data, as reported by system operators across the world.
- Total load represents the load data, as calculated by Electricity Maps. It is calculated as follows: Total load = Net generation - Exports + Imports - Charge + Discharge.
Net load is the total electricity made available on the grid at a given point in time, minus solar and wind. Essentially, it represents the remaining load that must be met by other power sources, primarily fossil fuel plants, to maintain grid stability. This concept may also be referred to as net demand or net consumption. It is measured in megawatts (MW).
Electricity Maps calculates net load based on the total reported load from the TSO. Because Electricity Maps applies flow-tracing, two types of net load are calculated. The first one simply retrieves wind and solar generation from the TSO reported load. The second one (flow-traced) retrieves flow-traced wind and solar from the TSO reported load, taking imports and exports into account.