Germany now generates over 35% of its yearly electricity consumption from wind and solar sources.
Even taking "Better days" into account, the average electricity output of wind and solar energy installations in Germany amounts to only about 17% of the installed capacity.
The obvious lesson is: if you want a stable, secure electricity supply, then you will need reserve, or backup sources of electricity which can be activated on more or less short notice to fill the gaps between electricity demand and the fluctuating output from wind and solar sources.
Given the high costs and other obstacles to creating large electricity storage systems, it is not surprising that Germany's electricity storage capacity amounts today to less than 2% of total electricity output.
Today, in order to guarantee stable baseline power and fill the gaps left by its fluctuating wind and solar generators, Germany is forced to rely on CO2-spouting coal and natural gas power plants; its remaining handful of nuclear plants, which it plans to shut down by 2022; and most notably importing electricity from other European nations.
The German Energy Agency published a long-term scenario for electricity production in Germany, based on the assumption that so-called renewable sources should account for 80% of total electricity consumption by the year 2050.
Preserving the stability of Germany's electricity grid while at the same time integrating tens of thousands of fluctuating energy sources distributed over the entire country has been a major technical challenge.
https://www.asiatimes.com/2020/01/article/germanys-overdose-of-renewable-energy/
Even taking "Better days" into account, the average electricity output of wind and solar energy installations in Germany amounts to only about 17% of the installed capacity.
The obvious lesson is: if you want a stable, secure electricity supply, then you will need reserve, or backup sources of electricity which can be activated on more or less short notice to fill the gaps between electricity demand and the fluctuating output from wind and solar sources.
Given the high costs and other obstacles to creating large electricity storage systems, it is not surprising that Germany's electricity storage capacity amounts today to less than 2% of total electricity output.
Today, in order to guarantee stable baseline power and fill the gaps left by its fluctuating wind and solar generators, Germany is forced to rely on CO2-spouting coal and natural gas power plants; its remaining handful of nuclear plants, which it plans to shut down by 2022; and most notably importing electricity from other European nations.
The German Energy Agency published a long-term scenario for electricity production in Germany, based on the assumption that so-called renewable sources should account for 80% of total electricity consumption by the year 2050.
Preserving the stability of Germany's electricity grid while at the same time integrating tens of thousands of fluctuating energy sources distributed over the entire country has been a major technical challenge.
https://www.asiatimes.com/2020/01/article/germanys-overdose-of-renewable-energy/
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