The US has used about
8% wind power and
2% solar power for
more than a decade.
Here's why:
The electric grid
is all of the hardware
and software needed
to convert fuel into
electricity, and bring
that electricity to
homes and businesses.
Electricity is distributed
by wires, transformers,
sub-stations, etc.
Everyone wants reliable
and affordable electricity.
For 99.99% reliability,
a grid needs roughly 75%
excess capability above
the everyday average use
of electricity.
25% “spinning reserve"
25% “peaking mode”
25% “back-up reserve”
Spinning Reserve.
A back-up power plant
kicks-in and replaces
100% of the lost power
in seconds, if a malfunction
shuts down another
generating plant.
More than a few seconds,
and the electrical demand
will overwhelm the grid,
causing a “brownout,”
or a “blackout.”
Avoiding a blackout
requires one or more
back-up fossil fuel
power plants that are
already running at
90-95% of rated power.
They burn fuel
but create
no electricity !
Solar and wind
can not serve
as backup power.
( The wind may not
blow adequately,
and the sun may
not be shining ).
The backup power
must be 100% reliable.
Peaking Mode:
Extra electrical power
needed twice a day,
typically for two to
three hours each.
The morning peak demand,
from six to nine AM to cook
breakfast, get ready to go
to school and work.
The other high demand
period is usually from
about five to seven PM,
when the extra power
is needed to cook dinner,
fire up the AC or
central heat, etc.
Solar plants can’t fill
either of these peak
demands because solar
produces most electricity
near mid-day, when it’s
needed the least.
Wind turbines might be
put to work for a few hours
in the morning or evenings
but only on windy days.
Back-up Reserve:
These power plants
are like a spare tire
in the trunk of a car.
These reserves
don’t need to be
on-line in seconds.
They only operate
when they are started,
typically for scheduled
maintenance on other
power plants.
It may take
several hours
or more for them
to come online,
and then
they may run for days,
weeks, or even a year
non-stop.
Having a
power plant
just sitting there,
doing nothing
most of the time,
is expensive
but is a valuable
insurance policy
against grid failure.
EXPERIENCES
IN GERMANY:
Germany
is the top
producer of
wind and solar
electrical power
in the world, on a
per capita basis.
By 2018 Germany had
an installed electrical base
of about 210 gigawatts --
28% wind power, 26% solar,
and 46% was their remaining
fossil fuel and nuclear power
plants, along with a little hydro.
The solar and wind plants
could theoretically produce
46% of Germany’s needs,
but on average they only
produced about 12% of
Germany’s total electrical
output.
So Germany
has had to
import
vast amounts
of electrical
power, mostly
from France,
and pay
exorbitant
rates for it.
So the average
electricity cost
in Germany
is now almost
three times the cost
in the United States.
Wind and solar
add zero value
to the German
electric grid.
electric grid.