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Monday, October 21, 2019

UK Electrical engineer with 39 years experience teaches the UK newspaper The Telegraph, about renewable energy and the UK electric grid

"It is unfortunate 
that politicians 
and environmental 
campaigners are 
ignorant of 
the technicalities 
of energy supply, 
or wish to 
ignore them.
MPs may 
have the power 
to change the laws 
of the land, but not 
to change the laws 
of physics."


The paragraph above 
is the conclusion
of a brilliant letter 
to the editor 
that was published 
in the October 4, 2019
Telegraph newspaper:


"SIR – As a chartered engineer who worked in the electricity supply industry for 39 years, I despair to hear politicians like Rebecca Long-Bailey claiming that renewables will provide for most of our energy needs by 2030.

Renewable generation – solar, wind and tidal – is, by definition, non-synchronous and it is technically impossible to operate our electricity transmission system solely on non-synchronous generation. There is a real danger of system instability and consequential widespread blackouts once non-synchronous generation exceeds around 30 per cent of total generation at any one time.

The National Grid report on the recent major outage makes numerous references to the lack of inertia in the system. This resulted from insufficient large synchronous generators (nuclear, coal, gas) being connected.

Given the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the only option is to increase significantly nuclear build rapidly. Both Labour and Conservative governments have been unwilling to commit themselves to this, which has led us into the problems we now face.

It is unfortunate that politicians and environmental campaigners are ignorant of the technicalities of energy supply, or wish to ignore them. MPs may have the power to change the laws of the land, but not to change the laws of physics.

Steve Proud
Swansea"


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