Friday Open Thread | 55 comments (55 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

No power engineer, so can't adequately address most issues, except:

Capacitor banks have often been added to grid interconnection points for reactive power.
european grid engineers and their bosses fought against wind for decades, even into this century, based upon such technical issues. Most issues never arose, and the ones which did have been solved. Turbines in most markets are now required to have certified low-voltage ride through capability (LVRT).
Currently, utility engineers are very supportive of wind's addition to the grid. Decentralized generation has positive aspects as well.
I've never seen any technical problems which haven't also had a solution over time.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Sat Sep 15th, 2012 at 04:06:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

"I've never seen any technical problems which haven't also had a solution over time."

This is exactly my question. If the integration timeline is, say, 20 years to get to, say, 50% of solar PV and wind supply, then that is one set of requirements to the power engineers. If the integration timeline is, say, 5 years, that is a significantly different--and potentially much more expensive--set of requirements...

by asdf on Sat Sep 15th, 2012 at 11:02:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Grid stability (none / 0)

Should have said i've never seen a problem which hasn't been solved within just a few years. And that's over four decades.

More expensive? By what corrupt metrics?

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Sat Sep 15th, 2012 at 01:21:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Grid stability (none / 0)

Ok, take it easy, I'm just asking. The point is that if there are difficult technical problems to be overcome in order to integrate sustainable supplies, and if the expected timeline is 20 years, that is one development scenario. If the timeline is 5 years, that is a different development scenario. It sort of sounds like you know that there are no such problems and that everything is ok. Which is great. But if I were at such a conference, I would ask. That's all.

by asdf on Sat Sep 15th, 2012 at 07:15:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Grid stability (none / 0)

This has been studied:

http://www.ieawind.org/task_25.html

It seems that the stability of the grid does not become a problem at any penetration, i.e., solutions exist and are very affordable.

Another issue is that very high penetrations require improvements in transmission to reap the aggregation benefits. I.e., building long HVDC interconnects. There, concerns similar to yours may have a bit more validity. Somebody just has to start building the damn things ;-)

by mustakissa on Wed Sep 19th, 2012 at 06:02:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Friday Open Thread | 55 comments (55 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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