3 ms·

> In practice this means fossil fuels become the baseload power source. As the name baseload power implies, it would have to be providing power all the time an

• belorn 4y ago
  That is correct. The term I see by my government is "reserve energy". In practice this mean a country subsidize a fossil fuel plant to keep engines running when demand is low, and then the plant get paid a second time if and when the plant is running. It is one of the main reason why investing in fossil fuel energy when countries turn to wind power is fairly good choice. The plant has lower costs in terms of fuels, when it burn fuel it does so when the market price is at the highest possible, and it get paid regardless from the government. The government are also locked into continuing this scheme as the alternative is to not have the reserve energy when needed which makes voters very angry. Burning fossil fuels when the price is lowest and without any government subsidies is just something people with too much fossil fuel can afford to do.