Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot easier

Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by thyrsus on Friday July 28, 2023 @02:34PM (#36911200)

I worry about those interconnections and the risk of cascading failures. I know just enough about it to worry that the problem might be order NP, and a directive to go faster when the modeling, aka software, just can't, could be disastrous. Can someone who knows better reassure me?

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Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by applied_heat on Friday July 28, 2023 @02:52PM (#36911466)

More people could perform more studies in parallel but it is a pretty niche skill to be able to perform the studies

The point of the studies is to determine the upgrades required to the transmission system to ensure stability and reliability (prevent cascading failures)

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Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by landemva on Friday July 28, 2023 @04:24PM (#36912791)

While it is good they are reducing bureaucracy, your point about limited transmission capacity is spot on.

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Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by Gibbon1 on Friday July 28, 2023 @04:13PM (#36912645)

One thing I think is notable. Solar and wind installations performance tends to just degrade instead of going 100% offline like traditional plants. And batteries greatly improve grid reliability. I suspect they can add power to the grid faster than breakers will trip.

Also we're working towards a system where demand can be controlled. Think your electric car stops charging or your air conditioner kicks off for 10 minutes when there is a problem.

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Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by applied_heat on Friday July 28, 2023 @04:40PM (#36913000)

Great point, How much battery capacity and energy the utility will require (big expense for project proponent they have to inevitably recover from ratepayers) for solar or wind farms is another Aspect that has to be studied

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Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by Gibbon1 on Friday July 28, 2023 @05:11PM (#36913384)

What I've read and seems to be backed up by how fast utility batteries are being installed is the drop in price of batteries means that suddenly the payback period for batteries is a couple of years.

Batteries exist in a different economic regime than rate payers. Where the price per megawatt varies by 2X or more. Which makes it easier for batteries to make money be arbitrage. As in buy power at 10am for $40/MWH, sell it at 7pm the same day for $80/MWH.

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Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by applied_heat on Friday July 28, 2023 @10:10PM (#36916109)

My benchmark for utility scale solar is the installation in Australia that was 100MW and 129MWH and cost about 100 million

So making $40/MWH * 100 MWH/day = $4000 per day * 365 day/yr = 1.4 million revenue per year. Not enough to pay back $100 million.

Like you said The economics of it keep improving though Imp

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Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by Gibbon1 on Friday July 28, 2023 @11:53PM (#36916705)

I think that thing makes money because utilities will pay though the nose for a reserve of instant on demand power.

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Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by applied_heat on Saturday July 29, 2023 @12:07PM (#36921581)

Right, so then we are back to that cost being recovered from ratepayers.

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Re:Adding clean energy to the US power grid just got a lot e... by Gibbon1 on Saturday July 29, 2023 @04:53PM (#36924442)

But they're paying less for that than before. The price power commands depends a lot on how flexible the power source is. Batteries because they provide grid stabilization can charge a premium price.

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