Some key questions listed here are nonetheless unanswered. The order issues, for instance. Throughout that drop in technology, did wind and photo voltaic vegetation go offline first? Or did every part go down collectively?
Whether or not or not photo voltaic and wind contributed to the blackout as a root trigger, we do know that wind and photo voltaic don’t contribute to grid stability in the identical means that another energy sources do, says Seaver Wang, local weather lead of the Breakthrough Institute, an environmental analysis group. No matter whether or not renewables are guilty, extra functionality to stabilize the grid would solely assist, he provides.
It isn’t {that a} renewable-heavy grid is doomed to fail. As Wang put it in an evaluation he wrote final week: “This blackout shouldn’t be the inevitable end result of working an electrical energy system with substantial quantities of wind and solar energy.”
One answer: We will be sure the grid contains sufficient gear that does present inertia, like nuclear energy and hydropower. Reversing a plan to close down Spain’s nuclear reactors starting in 2027 can be useful, Wang says. Different choices embody constructing huge machines that lend bodily inertia and utilizing inverters which can be “grid-forming,” that means they will actively assist regulate frequency and supply a form of artificial inertia.
Inertia isn’t every part, although. Grid operators may depend on putting in a variety of batteries that may reply shortly when issues come up. (Spain has a lot much less grid storage than different locations with a excessive degree of renewable penetration, like Texas and California.)
In the end, if there’s one takeaway right here, it’s that because the grid evolves, our strategies to maintain it dependable and secure might want to evolve too.
When you’re curious to listen to extra on this story, I’d suggest this Q&A from Carbon Transient in regards to the occasion and its aftermath and this piece from Heatmap about inertia, renewables, and the blackout.
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