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Regardless of exporting a lot of electricity, they are also now completely dependent on French nuclear power for energy security. German renewable sources are i

Regardless of exporting a lot of electricity, they are also now completely dependent on French nuclear power for energy security. German renewable sources are intermittent. In short, they produce energy when there is enough wind and when the sun shines, and both of those are conditions that correlate heavily over all of Germany. German electricity demand largely does not match them -- unlike in hotter climates, air conditioning is not used much, so demand is negatively correlated with sunshine, and the intermittent capacity greatly exceeds the variable capacity. So today, when it's windy or the sun shines in a clear sky, they have great overproduction, while when neither is true, they depend on foreign sources.

bildung 9y ago
Same difference with nuclear power. Starting and stopping nuke plants is very expensive/inefficient, yet energy demand is fluctuating wildy. That's why there is an international network for transmitting energy. One example is French excess nuclear energy in the summer (in central Europe AC are very uncommon, so energy demand is low when it's hot): Germany can more easily switch off renewable plants and import French nuclear power, yet still is a net exporter.
- kaybe 9y ago
  In the summer one runs into cooling problems for the plants too. Sometimes they have to be shut off because the river is already too warm - creating problems for France.
kazen44 9y ago
> Regardless of exporting a lot of electricity, they are also now completely dependent on French nuclear power for energy security. most western european nations have a very interdependent energy grid. (more so then the post-warsaw pact countries). The corridor BeneLux, Germany, france and italy is highly integrated. These systems are already reliant on each other, so power dependency in terms of nuclear power isn't really an additional issue.
kaybe 9y ago
>demand is negatively correlated with sunshine No, it's not. Most electricity is used during the day, since that is when the cooking and washing is done. German companies prefer working during days too, although the larger factories will have a shift system. (see eg the plot here: https://www.electricitymap.org/?page=country&solar=false&remote=true&wind=false&countryCode=DE https://www.electricitymap.org/?page=country&solar=false&rem...)
- davrosthedalek 9y ago
  sunshine!=day If it's sunny outside, people go outside. If it's raining, you stay inside and watch TV.
  - kaybe 9y ago
    Cooking and washing are the most energy-intensive things you can do in the household, and you still want to do them in any weather.

bildung 9y ago

Same difference with nuclear power. Starting and stopping nuke plants is very expensive/inefficient, yet energy demand is fluctuating wildy. That's why there is an international network for transmitting energy. One example is French excess nuclear energy in the summer (in central Europe AC are very uncommon, so energy demand is low when it's hot): Germany can more easily switch off renewable plants and import French nuclear power, yet still is a net exporter.

kaybe 9y ago
In the summer one runs into cooling problems for the plants too. Sometimes they have to be shut off because the river is already too warm - creating problems for France.

kazen44 9y ago

> Regardless of exporting a lot of electricity, they are also now completely dependent on French nuclear power for energy security. most western european nations have a very interdependent energy grid. (more so then the post-warsaw pact countries). The corridor BeneLux, Germany, france and italy is highly integrated. These systems are already reliant on each other, so power dependency in terms of nuclear power isn't really an additional issue.

kaybe 9y ago

>demand is negatively correlated with sunshine No, it's not. Most electricity is used during the day, since that is when the cooking and washing is done. German companies prefer working during days too, although the larger factories will have a shift system. (see eg the plot here: https://www.electricitymap.org/?page=country&solar=false&remote=true&wind=false&countryCode=DE https://www.electricitymap.org/?page=country&solar=false&rem...)

davrosthedalek 9y ago
sunshine!=day If it's sunny outside, people go outside. If it's raining, you stay inside and watch TV.
- kaybe 9y ago
  Cooking and washing are the most energy-intensive things you can do in the household, and you still want to do them in any weather.