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Those batteries only have a few hours of storage at max power, they're for solving the duck curve not a week-long supply shortage (let alone seasonal fluctuatio

by coryrc 5y ago

Those batteries only have a few hours of storage at max power, they're for solving the duck curve not a week-long supply shortage (let alone seasonal fluctuations). If we got the Midwest on heat pumps, how you planning to keep places heated when there's a week of blizzard? Right now we have no plan for addressing the occasional bad week besides overbuilding natural gas. That's worse than keeping our nuclear running and expanding, but the solar and wind is subsidized but not the natural gas. The way the market for power works, bidding on a daily or hourly basis, doesn't account for seasonal variation. The solar and wind builders are off the hook on blizzard week but get subsidized enough to run the reliable plants out of business the rest of the year.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
pydry 5y ago
>how you planning to keep places heated when there's a week of blizzard? When the wind is blowing really hard? Wind turbines? The texas winter was a bit of an anomaly. It got so cold that every power source ending up failing because none were set up to deal with it even though all of them in theory could have (& would have if they were in, say, alaska).
- rewq4321 5y ago
  I think their point still stands - even if every town/city has both solar panels and wind turbines, there are times when you won't get enough power from them to meet demand (remember demand can vary too), just due to natural fluctuations in weather. You either need an absurd amount of battery storage, or some sort of backup power source.
  - pydry 5y ago
    I think if you combine demand shaping, overbuilding, grid scale LIon batteries, better grid interconnects (another thing texas failed miserably at) & pumped hydro you'll find that demand can be met for most people. It'll take time to shift to using green energy and there will be problems but the same would be true for any other kind of shift to any new sources of power. Probably not 16 years like the new UK nuclear plant will take though :/
    - coryrc 5y ago
      Yes, we could do that, but that's not what is incentivized by the market so it's not being done on a large scale or with any urgency. Changing the way the market works is what is needed to make those things the action chosen.

by coryrc 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

pydry 5y ago

>how you planning to keep places heated when there's a week of blizzard? When the wind is blowing really hard? Wind turbines? The texas winter was a bit of an anomaly. It got so cold that every power source ending up failing because none were set up to deal with it even though all of them in theory could have (& would have if they were in, say, alaska).

rewq4321 5y ago
I think their point still stands - even if every town/city has both solar panels and wind turbines, there are times when you won't get enough power from them to meet demand (remember demand can vary too), just due to natural fluctuations in weather. You either need an absurd amount of battery storage, or some sort of backup power source.
- pydry 5y ago
  I think if you combine demand shaping, overbuilding, grid scale LIon batteries, better grid interconnects (another thing texas failed miserably at) & pumped hydro you'll find that demand can be met for most people. It'll take time to shift to using green energy and there will be problems but the same would be true for any other kind of shift to any new sources of power. Probably not 16 years like the new UK nuclear plant will take though :/
  - coryrc 5y ago
    Yes, we could do that, but that's not what is incentivized by the market so it's not being done on a large scale or with any urgency. Changing the way the market works is what is needed to make those things the action chosen.