Final World Cup game lead to lower electricity consumption in Netherlands and Germany

12-07-2010 The final match of this year’s World Cup led to lower electricity consumption in both TenneT’s Dutch and German high-voltage grids, according to consumption levels measured by electricity transmission operator TenneT.

During the final between the Netherlands and Spain, almost 1000 megawatts less electricity was consumed. This figure amounts to around 8% of consumption and corresponds to approximately 2 times the amount of electricity consumed by Amsterdam.

A similar dip in electricity consumption was observed in Germany during the final. During the match, almost 400 megawatt less energy was consumed in the German network of TenneT. For the total Germand network this was 1400 megawatts less. This figure corresponds to approximately 3 times the amount of electricity consumed by Amsterdam. 

The final match yesterday also garnered huge attention in Europe. An increase in electricity consumption could be observed in Europe during the half-time break of the World Cup game. Export between TenneT’s Dutch and German grids was temporarily increased in order to make extra capacity available during these peak half-time periods. This export was facilitated in several ways, including increasing the available capacity on the high-voltage interconnection between the Dutch substation in Meeden and the German substation in Diele.