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How to keep Wind and Solar profitable as its electricity gets cheaper

June 25, 2021 by Dev Millstein

Success can cause problems. As wind and solar penetration increases the electricity it generates gets cheaper. If it stops being profitable we’ll stop building it, thus endangering our emissions-free goals. Dev Millstein at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory summarises their research paper that looks at how market value changed over time at 2,100 utility-scale power plants across major power markets in the U.S., using 2019 data. It’s clear … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Renewables Tagged With: congestion, curtailment, demand, grids, prices, solar, storage, Transmission, wind

“Green” chemical plants that ramp up and down with wind, solar

June 24, 2020 by James Conca

One solution to variable renewables is to create customers that have no problem with ramping up and down production along with the power. In fact, when the wind and solar is producing too much power for the grid it can be bought very cheaply, making intermittent customers very happy. Jim Conca describes a new design for a Chlor-Alkali Chemical Plant that can “idle” without critical components of the plant degrading – the main reason for a plant … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Industry Tagged With: AchĂ­ni, cement, chemicals, curtailment, fossilfuels, industry, solar, steel, wind

China’s 2019 electricity generation reviewed as its next 5-year plan is drafted

March 24, 2020 by Simon Göss

Simon Göss breaks down the totals and additions for electricity generation in China. In 2019 the total reached 7,325 TWh (more than twice Europe’s) after adding 330 TWh (more than half Germany’s total). Of that 330 TWh, 120 TWh came from thermal (90%+ coal). But the numbers were dominated by renewables (hydro, wind, solar) which added almost 160 TWh. Though that’s the third year of declining renewables additions, wind and solar curtailment is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Renewables, Transport and energy Tagged With: China, coal, curtailment, electricity, EVs, hydro, Nuclear, solar, thermal, wind

Multi-energy “island” Microgrids can increase grid resilience

March 11, 2020 by Xi Zhang

As the number of different technologies producing power and providing storage increases, the grid is getting complicated. The best way to make it resilient against outages is therefore changing. The traditional way is to shut down the failing plant, leaving the rest of the grid to cope as best as it can with the change in voltage and frequency. Xi Zhang at the Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College, describes the research looking at multi-energy … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids Tagged With: batteries, buildings, curtailment, electricity, EVs, grids, HVAC, Microgrids, smartgrids, storage

Overbuild solar: it’s getting so cheap curtailment won’t matter

June 11, 2019 by Richard Perez and Karl Rabago

Avoiding curtailment made sense when solar generation was extremely expensive: don’t build solar beyond what you can store. However, that means solar must always wait for storage costs to decline and capacity grow. But with solar prices plummeting it can make economic sense to overbuild it, say Richard Perez, University at Albany, and Karl Rabago, Pace University. Oversized solar will deliver more energy in low light and reduce the need for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Renewables, Uncategorized Tagged With: batteries, curtailment, grid, renewables, solar, storage, wind

Solar intermittency: upbeat “annual” carbon reduction estimates miss the “hourly” reality

May 28, 2019 by Vincent Xia

There is a maximum speed at which solar capacity can expand. You know you’ve passed it when insufficient storage means solar curtailment, or selling the daytime excess means curtailment of other clean energy generators. As solar grows, so too will this problem. Vincent Xia, at the Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University, reports on a new Stanford study which says emissions predictions are not taking this into account, thus … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Renewables Tagged With: carbon, curtailment, electricity, emissions, grids, Intermittency, solar, wind

Most read this week

  • Make Hydrogen in developing nations: share prosperity while meeting our climate goals by Dolf Gielen | posted on January 26, 2023
  • 10 Carbon Capture methods compared: costs, scalability, permanence, cleanness by Ella Adlen | posted on November 11, 2019
  • Can new cheap, frequent “laser” monitoring of critical components extend Nuclear plant lifetimes by decades? by David Chandler | posted on February 1, 2023
  • Wind and Solar generated record 20% of EU electricity in 2022. More than gas, nuclear, hydro, coal by Daisy Dunne | posted on February 3, 2023
  • The U.S. should support the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) by Joseph Majkut | posted on January 30, 2023
  • Micro-nuclear reactors: up to 20MW, portable, safer by Christina Nunez | posted on April 22, 2021
  • Utah: 140MW Geothermal bid can beat the cost and performance of the proposed Nuclear SMR by Dennis Wamsted | posted on January 27, 2023
  • EU Energy Outlook to 2060: how will power prices and revenues develop for wind, solar, gas, hydrogen + more by Alex Schmitt | posted on December 6, 2022
  • Biofuel is approaching a feedstock crunch. How bad? And what must be done? by IEA | posted on January 23, 2023
  • EU ETS and CBAM: what the big update to emissions trading rules means for Europe’s key sectors by Simon Göss | posted on January 16, 2023
  • Can Aluminium-air batteries outperform Li-ion for EVs? by Helena Uhde | posted on September 8, 2021
  • Steel decarbonisation: Australia must stop making excuses and follow Europe’s lead by Simon Nicholas | posted on February 2, 2023
  • What’s best for Hydrogen transport: ammonia, liquid hydrogen, LOHC or pipelines? by Herib Blanco | posted on May 5, 2022
  • Wind (and Solar) need their own Financial Transmission Rights to hedge their unique congestion risks by James Kim | posted on January 31, 2023
  • Gravity Batteries: any nation can do it at scale using rocks by Simon Read | posted on July 27, 2022
  • Hydrogen production in 2050: how much water will 74EJ need? by Herib Blanco | posted on July 22, 2021
  • Concrete: 8% of global emissions and rising. Which innovations can achieve net zero by 2050? by Ben Skinner | posted on January 24, 2023
  • Why hydrogen fuel cell cars are not competitive — from a hydrogen fuel cell expert by Zachary Shahan | posted on June 17, 2016
  • Smart Glasses: experts can monitor and advise on power plant inspections anywhere in the world by Christoph Gatzen | posted on January 25, 2023
  • The 10 big problems with simply replacing fossil cars with electric by Schalk Cloete | posted on December 6, 2021

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        Recent Posts

        Wind and Solar generated record 20% of EU electricity in 2022. More than gas, nuclear, hydro, coal

        Steel decarbonisation: Australia must stop making excuses and follow Europe’s lead

        Can new cheap, frequent “laser” monitoring of critical components extend Nuclear plant lifetimes by decades?

        Wind (and Solar) need their own Financial Transmission Rights to hedge their unique congestion risks

        The U.S. should support the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

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