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Energy & Renewables vocabulary · Grid, Transmission and Distribution

Load shedding

Meaning in energy & renewables, with examples

nounCommon term

In energy & renewables, load shedding means: Deliberately cutting power to some areas or customers for a period, usually in rotation, to protect the grid when supply cannot meet demand.

In Turkish: yük atma, planlı kesinti, tüketim kısıntısı

How it is used

A last-resort measure used by grid operators. Load shedding is announced in schedules, carried out and later lifted. Automatic under-frequency load shedding disconnects loads within seconds when frequency drops sharply. Some countries call it rolling blackouts.

Example sentences

  1. The utility introduced two hours of load shedding each evening during the gas shortage.

  2. Automatic load shedding stopped the frequency drop and prevented a blackout.

Common collocations

  • load shedding schedule
  • under-frequency load shedding
  • rolling blackouts
  • implement load shedding
  • blackoutA total loss of electricity over a large area, often caused when a major fault spreads through the grid faster than operators can contain it.
  • power outageA period when electricity is not available to customers because of a fault, bad weather, damage to the network or planned maintenance.
  • frequencyThe number of times per second that alternating current changes direction, measured in hertz (Hz). It is 50 Hz in Europe and Turkey and 60 Hz in North America.
  • demand responseChanging when or how much electricity consumers use in response to price signals or requests from the grid operator, for example reducing factory load during a peak.
  • peak demandThe highest level of electricity demand in a given period, such as a day or a year, which the power system must be able to supply.

More terms: Grid, Transmission and Distribution

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