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There is a lot of industrial processes that take hours or days to ramp down or up and sudden loss of electricity breaks equipment/infrastructure. Yes they have
by doikor 5y ago
There is a lot of industrial processes that take hours or days to ramp down or up and sudden loss of electricity breaks equipment/infrastructure. Yes they have local batteries/generators for backup but those should not be used during "normal" operations.
- samwillis 5y agoQuite true, and those industries would need to either adapt to a new energy pricing model or innovate on technology to be able to scale more rapidly. Just because there is a status quo doesn’t mean that change cannot and should not happen.
- doikor 5y agoHere in Finland they innovated a long time ago by building/owning more electricity production capability than they use and selling to themselves "at cost" instead of market rate when it makes sense. This also ties into the nuclear reactors (and the new OL3 reactors) where the parts of the industry that use lots of electricity (paper/cardboard/cellulose here in Finland) are the biggest single owners. Basically they want to be damn sure they can get the electricity they need when they need it at a price they can still make a profit from whatever they use it for.
- kabes 5y agoWhich probably means just running more generators.
- WanderPanda 5y agoWhich probably also means they will not be competitive with foreign companies
- jacquesm 5y agoAnd price accordingly. It's only logical that the price of energy input is reflected in product price.
- samwillis 5y agoExactly, if you want your aluminium extrusion immediately during high electricity prices you pay a premium, or wait for lower prices. Industry will just have to adapt to the new normal.
- singhblom 5y agoAt least for the steel industry stuff quoted in OP the electricity consumption is mostly to produce hydrogen gas. The gas will then be stored in giant underground chambers and after that used in the steel production. This works extremely nicely with wind power since the electrolysis decouples the electricity consumption from the steel production. This means that the steel plants will act as stabilizers and modulators of the electricity prices in the whole region to a certain extent (together with the hydro plants and batteries presumably).