4 ms·

Renewables are more than capable of supplying "base load". What you're referring to is a fallacy.

by mnklo 6y ago

acidburnNSA 6y ago
I'm sorry but it's not that simple, as you can see clearly right now. Between Feb 9 and Feb 17th wind and solar energy delivery has been a very small fraction of capacity, less than 10%. To do baseload over a period of 8 days with that kind of resource would require roughly a 20x capacity overbuild and some kind of ridiculous battery. It's just not practical. Most realistic scenarios these days have lots of wind and solar and some overnight batteries, and rely on large mostly-idled capacity of gas to get through the black-swan events like this. Though obviously this approach has challenges as well.
- mnklo 6y ago
  I think you're overcomplicating the situation. A mix of renewable sources is quite stable, and there are more ways to store energy than just batteries. Here's a paper debunking the baseload myth. http://www.ceem.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/MarkBaseloadFallacyANZSEE.pdf http://www.ceem.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/uploads/publ... A 10GW solar farm is already in the pipeline for northern Australia: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12785256 https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12785256
  - snowwindwaves 6y ago
    The paper suggests solar thermal and wind plus gas peakers. So the overbuilt point from the parent stands.
lsllc 6y ago
All I'm saying is we need a mix of generation, including guaranteed baseline generating capacity. A typical nuclear plant puts out 1GW, that's pretty substantial. Take a look at France: https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/france.aspx https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-pr... They generated 71% of their 582 TWh in 2018 from Nuclear, with the bulk of the remainder coming from Hydro (12%) Natural Gas (5%), Wind (5%) ... (solar was only 2%, same as coal). They are a net exporter of power and that generates about €3 billion/year of revenue.

Renewables are more than capable of supplying "base load". What you're referring to is a fallacy.

by mnklo 6y ago

Renewables are more than capable of supplying "base load". What you're referring to is a fallacy.

I'm sorry but it's not that simple, as you can see clearly right now. Between Feb 9 and Feb 17th wind and solar energy delivery has been a very small fraction of capacity, less than 10%. To do baseload over a period of 8 days with that kind of resource would require roughly a 20x capacity overbuild and some kind of ridiculous battery. It's just not practical. Most realistic scenarios these days have lots of wind and solar and some overnight batteries, and rely on large mostly-idled capacity of gas to get through the black-swan events like this. Though obviously this approach has challenges as well.

mnklo 6y ago
I think you're overcomplicating the situation. A mix of renewable sources is quite stable, and there are more ways to store energy than just batteries. Here's a paper debunking the baseload myth. http://www.ceem.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/MarkBaseloadFallacyANZSEE.pdf http://www.ceem.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/uploads/publ... A 10GW solar farm is already in the pipeline for northern Australia: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12785256 https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12785256
- snowwindwaves 6y ago
  The paper suggests solar thermal and wind plus gas peakers. So the overbuilt point from the parent stands.

lsllc 6y ago

All I'm saying is we need a mix of generation, including guaranteed baseline generating capacity. A typical nuclear plant puts out 1GW, that's pretty substantial. Take a look at France: https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/france.aspx https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-pr... They generated 71% of their 582 TWh in 2018 from Nuclear, with the bulk of the remainder coming from Hydro (12%) Natural Gas (5%), Wind (5%) ... (solar was only 2%, same as coal). They are a net exporter of power and that generates about €3 billion/year of revenue.