Australia is a sunny place and aims to transition its power generation to near-as-dammit 100% 'renewable' Solar [+ Wind]. In this post I offer a glimpse into how achievable that may be.
I guess it's not surprising that the wind is so 'coordinated' in Australia - it's very flat. There's essentially nothing in the way if it's coming from the East and if it's coming off the ocean for those in the South-East, well, they're all clustered inside what ranges there are.
Would be interested to see an analysis of Ireland's efforts.
Hello Jacqueline, thank you for your comments. I think it may come as a bit of a surprise to Aussies to see that the can wind drop everywhere at the same time.
but because Ireland has substantial interconnectors with the UK it is in substantially the same state as South Australia. Currently its 'renewable' Surpluses (if any) can be exported if there aren't internal grid constraints forcing curtailment; / or its 'renewable' Shortfalls can be made up from the UK if the EIR fossil power stations can't supply Demand.
Today at 14:30 Irish Wind is 194 MW out of a Demand of 3,888 MW i.e. 5%
At the same time, GridWatch says GB Wind is 4.3 GW 13% of Demand.
And the Agora Energiewende shows 9.06 GW out of Demand 72.66 GW in Germany, i.e. Wind 12½%.
True, currently it's a v sunny day. But across N Europe the sun sets around 6-7pm. By the looks of it Wind will not come to the rescue this day.
Great analysis. I would add that if Australia will have significant problems getting to 100% wind+solar electricity generation, then the rest of the world will have it much, much worse.
Australia has high levels of solar radiance across a massive territory and a relatively small population.
I guess it's not surprising that the wind is so 'coordinated' in Australia - it's very flat. There's essentially nothing in the way if it's coming from the East and if it's coming off the ocean for those in the South-East, well, they're all clustered inside what ranges there are.
Would be interested to see an analysis of Ireland's efforts.
Hello Jacqueline, thank you for your comments. I think it may come as a bit of a surprise to Aussies to see that the can wind drop everywhere at the same time.
I've occasionally looked at the Eirgrid dashboard https://www.smartgriddashboard.com/#roi
but because Ireland has substantial interconnectors with the UK it is in substantially the same state as South Australia. Currently its 'renewable' Surpluses (if any) can be exported if there aren't internal grid constraints forcing curtailment; / or its 'renewable' Shortfalls can be made up from the UK if the EIR fossil power stations can't supply Demand.
Today at 14:30 Irish Wind is 194 MW out of a Demand of 3,888 MW i.e. 5%
At the same time, GridWatch says GB Wind is 4.3 GW 13% of Demand.
And the Agora Energiewende shows 9.06 GW out of Demand 72.66 GW in Germany, i.e. Wind 12½%.
True, currently it's a v sunny day. But across N Europe the sun sets around 6-7pm. By the looks of it Wind will not come to the rescue this day.
Great analysis. I would add that if Australia will have significant problems getting to 100% wind+solar electricity generation, then the rest of the world will have it much, much worse.
Australia has high levels of solar radiance across a massive territory and a relatively small population.
Thank you, Michael.
This is indeed the conclusion I'm increasingly coming to wherever the data is good enough.
Hence the variety of territories I've looked at for my Substack posts.