A nationally connected
electric grid proposal
does not solve
three important
renewable energy
intermittency
problems:
(1)
The sun always sets,
about 3 hours later
on the US west coast
than on the east coast.
So there would be
insufficient solar energy
for dinner cooking, AC,
laundry, etc., on a US
national electric grid.
New York solar power
in the dark could't help
California at dinner time.
(2)
Energy demand is seasonal.
The sun sets early in winter
when extra energy is needed
for heating. No national grid
can fix northern hemisphere
seasonality.
(3)
Wind is highly variable
by location. The windiest
places in the US
(north Texas, and
western Iowa)
still have actual wind
power output
averaging only
about 32%
of maximum wind
turbine capacity.
An article in the Atlantic
claimed if not for President
Trump’s intervention, the
‘Green New Deal’ (GND)
could have been stabilized
by nationwide grid connected
GND renewables.
This article was nonsense.
The sun sets nationally,
so night is still a big
solar energy problem,
as California found out
with its rolling blackouts,
whether or not there is
a national electric grid.
Electric voltage sags
with transmission line
distance because
of wire resistance.
So even a very high voltage
national AC grid would
lose some electrical energy,
at least 15%.
That's why very long links
invert to high voltage
DC current, and are then
inverted back to AC current.
That's one reason the US
high voltage grid is still NOT
nationally interconnected.
Wind and solar power
reduce grid stability
because they lack
grid inertia.
They can't keep voltage
(AC frequency) stable,
so there are many more
‘brownout’ voltage sags.
Massive heavy
rotating steam/gas
turbine generators
store kinetic energy
for the electric grid,
with rotational
momentum.
Wind and solar
do not have any
inherent kinetic
energy momentum
‘capacity’.
They lack
‘grid inertia’.
This problem gets bigger
and bigger as the percentage
of wind and solar renewables
increases.
Renewable wind farms and
solar farms need subsidies
for 100% back up natural gas
power.
The lifetime cost of energy
(LCOE, an annuity calculation)
of natural gas (CCGT)
is about $56/MwH.
The true cost of wind,
using the Texas ERCOT
grid for specifics,
is about $146/MwH.
That's 2.6x higher.
Case closed.
Renewables lose.