3 ms·

For those who aren't aware, there is already a 3200km transmission line operating in China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current https://en

by nl 4y ago

For those who aren't aware, there is already a 3200km transmission line operating in China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current

jillesvangurp 4y ago
There are similar plans to power Singapore with Australian solar. And Norway is exporting hydro to Europe via underseas cables. And the UK and Norway are planning to exchange wind and hydro both ways. Connections by cable are a game changer. Easy to understand and proven technology. It's an often overlooked factor in renewable energy. Yes intermittency seasonality is a thing. But it's a local effect that you can compensate for by connecting to other intermittent sources of energy. They won't all fail at the same time on average. And if you interconnect enough different sources, the system as a whole gets more predictable and resilient. It's not all going to fail at the same time everywhere.
- martinald 4y ago
  Unfortunately not true, at least for wind energy in europe. It tends to fall (or blow) all over europe at the same time. And, even worse, the wind tends to stop blowing in winter when it is extremely cold (highest demand days) and there is virtually no solar. It's becoming a serious problem in Northern Europe.
  - nl 4y ago
    This is only true is you look at Northern Europe. Southern Europe is more windy in winter as can be seen by wind power generation in Spain, where the highest generation is November-February: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1289540/monthly-wind-power-generation-spain/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1289540/monthly-wind-pow... Edit: actually in the UK there is usually more wind power generated in December and January too: https://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/publications/downloads/sinden05-dtiwindreport.pdf https://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/publications/downloads/sinden05-dti... (pg 3)
    - flavius29663 4y ago
      you can't go by averages, lulls happen generally during winter, and freezing for 2 weeks means there is little consolation to know that the month still had an above average production.
      - nl 4y ago
        Which is why you have geographic redundancy into other weather patterns. North Western Europe is dominated by the gulf stream. Southern Europe isn't. The winds do not correlate at all.
        flavius29663 4y ago
        > Which is why you have geographic redundancy into other weather patterns. Exactly...and one of them is Morocco. The UK is already connected to France for nuclear power, Norway for hydro, it makes sense to connect to Africa for sun power.
        nl 4y ago
        I think we are adamantly agreeing?
- nl 4y ago
  Yes, geographic redundancy is a great thing. It's not even seasonality - it's just weather. It's extremely rare to find a place that gets no wind and no sun and has nowhere within say 1000km that doesn't have a different weather pattern. Mountains and water bodies are things that affect weather, and generally population centers are separated by them.
- kondro 4y ago
  Sadly no more. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/australia-singapore-solar-plan-no-longer-viable-projects-billionaire-investor https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/australia...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

by nl 4y ago

jillesvangurp 4y ago

There are similar plans to power Singapore with Australian solar. And Norway is exporting hydro to Europe via underseas cables. And the UK and Norway are planning to exchange wind and hydro both ways. Connections by cable are a game changer. Easy to understand and proven technology. It's an often overlooked factor in renewable energy. Yes intermittency seasonality is a thing. But it's a local effect that you can compensate for by connecting to other intermittent sources of energy. They won't all fail at the same time on average. And if you interconnect enough different sources, the system as a whole gets more predictable and resilient. It's not all going to fail at the same time everywhere.

martinald 4y ago
Unfortunately not true, at least for wind energy in europe. It tends to fall (or blow) all over europe at the same time. And, even worse, the wind tends to stop blowing in winter when it is extremely cold (highest demand days) and there is virtually no solar. It's becoming a serious problem in Northern Europe.
- nl 4y ago
  This is only true is you look at Northern Europe. Southern Europe is more windy in winter as can be seen by wind power generation in Spain, where the highest generation is November-February: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1289540/monthly-wind-power-generation-spain/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1289540/monthly-wind-pow... Edit: actually in the UK there is usually more wind power generated in December and January too: https://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/publications/downloads/sinden05-dtiwindreport.pdf https://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/publications/downloads/sinden05-dti... (pg 3)
  - flavius29663 4y ago
    you can't go by averages, lulls happen generally during winter, and freezing for 2 weeks means there is little consolation to know that the month still had an above average production.
    - nl 4y ago
      Which is why you have geographic redundancy into other weather patterns. North Western Europe is dominated by the gulf stream. Southern Europe isn't. The winds do not correlate at all.
      - flavius29663 4y ago
        > Which is why you have geographic redundancy into other weather patterns. Exactly...and one of them is Morocco. The UK is already connected to France for nuclear power, Norway for hydro, it makes sense to connect to Africa for sun power.
        nl 4y ago
        I think we are adamantly agreeing?
nl 4y ago
Yes, geographic redundancy is a great thing. It's not even seasonality - it's just weather. It's extremely rare to find a place that gets no wind and no sun and has nowhere within say 1000km that doesn't have a different weather pattern. Mountains and water bodies are things that affect weather, and generally population centers are separated by them.
kondro 4y ago
Sadly no more. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/australia-singapore-solar-plan-no-longer-viable-projects-billionaire-investor https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/australia...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]