Essay by Eric Worrall
h / t Observa; If only those lazy engineers would find a way to keep the solar panels running at night, when people really need electricity…
Solar quickly overtakes coal in Australia as the number one source of electricity in the nation
of a political reporter Tom Lowrey
Main attractions:
- Solar beats coal as the top power source in the energy market for about half an hour on Friday
- Most of the energy comes from rooftop solar panels, not from large-scale solar farms.
- Energy experts say this is a sign of things to come as Australia transitions to renewable energy.
For about half an hour on Friday, the national energy market got a glimpse of what a renewable future could look like.
Solar overshadows coal as the leading power source in the energy market, which includes all states and territories except Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
This is not the first time it has happened, but experts say it is the first time it has happened under relatively “normal” conditions.
It’s not due to a lack of coal-fired power, and it happens just outside of the sunniest part of the year.
Joshua Stabler, from energy consulting firm Energy Edge, says that makes it especially important.
“This is the first time in conventional business we have seen coal dethroned because [the] number one fuel source on the market,” he said.
“Coal once accounted for 80 or 90 percent of the energy entering the market.
“That means that this is a big event.”
…
Coal still dominates the grid during evening peaks, when solar sources are no longer available.
But Richie Merzian, from the Australian Institute for Advancement, says it can be solved through transitions on the energy grid.
“We can generate more energy on our rooftops in our communities, we can use more large-scale renewables, but we need a grid,” he said. that can be met.”
…
What I like about this article is not the mention of the battery or the storage. Until some genius finds an affordable energy storage system, none of these green wins help the average consumer. Renewable capacity will continue to increase household energy bills.
Any coal supplier loses out to renewables during the day, more so at night, or in adverse weather conditions, when the electricity they supply dominates the grid.
We can forget about the big things Snowy 2 . Pumped Storage Systemwhich hope great green until someone bothers to actually run the numbers. Even The green lawns at the Sydney Morning Herald today call Snowy 2 “White Elephant”.
Coal suppliers have leverage over the Australian government that they can simply pack up and leave, and bring down Australia’s electricity grid, if someone tries to intervene to get them to profit like they do. did before renewables entered the market.
We have seen this leverage work, during the recent crisis when Australian government tried to impose fixed prices on coal plants during wind drought. We can only guess what the coal miners said to government representatives behind closed doors, but The government’s response was to immediately offer large capacity subsidies to coal plantsin return promise to keep their factories running.
Coal suppliers demand the same profits they made before renewables entered the market and are in a position to force the Australian government to comply, leaving ordinary Australians behind on costs. combined costs to operate both the old coal-fired power system and the new renewable power system. These costs will either appear directly in people’s energy bills, or indirectly through federal taxes, which are passed on to coal plant operators in the form of capacity subsidies.
One thing is clear. There will be no end to soaring household electricity bills, as long as the Australian Federal Government continues to try to supply useless renewable energy in the market.
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