4/7/2023 0 Comments Paraview clean to gridThe indicator most often used to describe grid reliability is the average power outage duration experienced by each customer in a year, a metric known by the tongue-tying name of “System Average Interruption Duration Index” (SAIDI). Going by the cliché, “In God we trust all others bring data,” it’s worth looking at the statistics on grid reliability in countries with high levels of renewables. ![]() ![]() 1: A grid that increasingly relies on renewable energy is an unreliable grid. This transition has been sped by plummeting costs -Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that solar and wind are the cheapest source for 91 percent of the world’s electricity - but is being held back by misinformation and myths. A clearer understanding of how to dependably manage electricity supply is vital because climate threats require a rapid shift to renewable sources like solar and wind power. In reality, it is entirely possible to sustain a reliable electricity system based on renewable energy sources plus a combination of other means, including improved methods of energy management and storage. Subscribe to the E360 Newsletter for weekly updates delivered to your inbox. The newly elected German government plans to accelerate the former and complete the latter, but some critics have warned that Germany is running “ up against the limits of renewables.” NEVER MISS AN ARTICLE In Europe, the usual target is Germany, in part because of its Energiewende (energy transformation) policies shifting from fossil fuels and nuclear energy to efficient use and renewables. Instead, other causes - such as inadequately weatherized power plants and natural gas shutting down because of frozen equipment - led to most of the state’s electricity shortages. In fact, renewables outperformed the grid operator’s forecast during 90 percent of the blackout, and in the rest, fell short by at most one-fifteenth as much as gas plants. Greg Abbott wrongly blamed wind and solar power for the state’s massive grid failure, which was vastly larger than California’s. During a brutal Texas cold snap last winter, Gov. ![]() Last summer, some commentators argued that blackouts in California were due to the “intermittency” of renewable energy sources, when in fact the chief causes were a combination of an extreme heat wave probably induced by climate change, faulty planning, and the lack of flexible generation sources and sufficient electricity storage. The myths boil down to this: Relying on renewable sources of energy will make the electricity supply undependable. As wind and solar power have become dramatically cheaper, and their share of electricity generation grows, skeptics of these technologies are propagating several myths about renewable energy and the electrical grid.
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