It’s always windy somewhere: Balancing renewable energy in Europe (2017)

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/07/its-always-windy-somewhere-balancing-renewable-energy-in-europe/

by Tomte • 5 years ago

17 6 5 years ago

LarvaFX• 5 years ago

You can see it the production of solar and wind as well as the current wind situation here actually: https://www.energymeteo.com/products/power_forecasts/meteoda...

choeger• 5 years ago

Is it just me or is the solar/wind view swapped?

blackbear_• 5 years ago

It's always windy somewhere. And, interestingly, there's always a place without wind at all [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_ball_theorem

pedrocr2• 5 years ago

What I have yet to see a source is on how many hydro resources we have that can help with this mix, particularly those that can be used as pumped storage. Cold, windless days in winter are the worst case scenario for wind+solar on the grid but hydro should be at its peak around that time.

I was surprised to find recently that Portugal is a net exporter of energy in winter and importer in summer[1]. We're currently building a bunch of solar and already do quite a bit of pumped hydro. Getting to 100% renewables by 2030 should be fairly straightforward but obviously not all places have the same kind of hydro resources. But maybe the European grid as a whole has what's needed and we "just" need better interconnects. HVDC seems promising.

[1] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UTUjhrBF04MP38b4WlQx...

pjc50• 5 years ago

That's very impressive, looks like Portugal is in a very good position for hydro there. Unfortunately I don't think there's huge scope for more hydro across Europe as it's very disruptive to build.

People have talked about tidal power for years (100% predictable cycle), but doesn't seem to have been any progress on that as there are so few suitable sites and they're all environmentally sensitive wetlands.

pedrocr2• 5 years ago

Unfortunately I don't think there's huge scope for more hydro across Europe as it's very disruptive to build.

My doubt is not really about new hydro. I suspect it's mostly maxed out in most places. Both because of geography and policy reasons. It's more two things:

1) The hydro we have on the total grid is enough to balance how much wind+solar? There are countries with a lot more hydro resources than others (e.g., Norway has an even more hydro-based mix than Portugal) that could potentially allow a healthier grid mix with better interconnects. New interconnects have been announced but I haven't found a source for a total opportunity.

2) How much of the hydro we have can be converted to pumped hydro to use as a battery. If you see the spreadsheet Portugal pumps in reverse about 14% of the energy. Not all dams have the geography for it but even the ones that do may not have the requisite hardware for it. How much can this be expanded?

It’s always windy somewhere: Balancing renewable energy in Europe (2017)

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