Wind and solar , what if theres no wind or sun

[dazandandrea]

Found this interesting.


Power prices have surged to a record high as the cold snap and a lack of wind prompts a scramble for electricity among suppliers.

Day ahead UK power prices jumped to an all-time high of £675 a megawatt hour on Epex Spot Exchange on Sunday as snow and sub-zero temperatures swept across Britain. The cost of power at the peak hours of 5pm-6pm soared to a record £2,586 a megawatt-hour.

The eye watering wholesale power prices are being caused by rocketing demand at a time when low wind speeds are reducing the amount of electricity generated from renewable energy.

While most houses use gas for central heating, cold weather drives demand by prompting more people to stay indoors with the lights on watching TV. Heating systems also use electricity.

National Grid data suggests that power consumption is set to peak at almost 46,700 megawatts at 5pm on Monday, up from Sunday’s high of just under 43,000.

 

[Tombola]

More storage

 

[dunnah01]

More storage

You mean wind storage

 

[Tombola]

Mega Packs
largest is here in Europe. Energy storage will be big business

Tesla unveils new biggest Megapack project in Europe

Tesla has unveiled a new giant Megapack project in Belgium that is now the biggest Megpack project in continental Europe.

electrek.co

 

[Raul]

UK used to peak at 40-44GW and we used to call on our french neighbours at peak time, to wach East Enders and the like. That was summer times. With population increase, and cold winter, why on earth do they think the peak will reduce?
To me it looks like money making excuses. Wait for the EV charging, it will be bliss. We don’t have the infrastructure and capacity to sustain today’s consumption, without interconnects.

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[Augusta08]

For grid based storage Liquid Air Batteries are the way to go. In the base of each wind turbine a simple (low tech) Stainless Steel liquid air cylinder 10,000kgs of liquid air. When the turbine is working hard but there's no demand for the energy generated, use the excess to compress fresh air. Once stored in the cylinder it doesn't require freezing or any maintenance. It just sits there , when there's no wind, redirect the liquid air through a generator (there's one directly above it) to generate electricity when the demand is high.

Liquid air has a capacity to expand 700 times when returning to gaseous form, so 10,000kgs would create several MWh so not insignificant. The technology is already available all the right conditions are in place, (excess power sometimes, too little other times) a generator on hand... the grid linkages ...on hand.

All that is required is financial incentives for the wind turbine builder, ie. stop paying them to switch the things off, stop paying them when the things idle.

 

[Raul]

Or, use RedFlow batteries like Australian grid does for few years now.

 

[Augusta08]

Or, use RedFlow batteries like Australian grid does for few years now.

Yes Zinc-Bromine is a good technology and ideal for the domestic storage, when you need an inverter to generate AC voltage.

 

[ChrisL]

We should all go to the pub when there's high demand on gas and electricity, we won't be using any at home and the money we save on our bills and spend in the pub will keep the pub warm and lit and help keep it in business.

 

[ctc]

Be like the French, let foreign shareholders take a hit for once.

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[cyberyacht]

When are we going to invest in tidal turbines for for 24/7/365 reliability?