More Renewables Mean Changing the Way We Run the Power System
Dr. álvaro López-Pe?a
Energy Transition Strategy & Public Affairs / Renewables, Policy, Investment, Markets / Big Picture, Versatile, Communicator, Social & Analytical
?? As we saw in previous posts, more and more renewables are coming online faster and faster, mainly solar and, to a lesser extent, wind. They have fundamentally different characteristics compared to traditional generators, such as weather variability, distributed nature, or lack of inertia*. So we need to adapt the way we operate the power system: what we call “integration.” This is a hugely complex and technical field, highly country-dependent, but the headline graph by the International Energy Agency (IEA) does a beautiful job summarizing the key measures that can be taken.
As you can see, the graph talks about “phases” of renewable energy integration. This framework, which the IEA first developed in 2017, has recently been updated. While the original report only had four phases, the updated framework now has six. And, as can be seen in the next figure, more and more countries are climbing the ladder! Great news overall, but new measures are required to integrate them.
In the next post, we will focus on storage—certainly a key measure starting from phase 2-3—but many other measures (sometimes easier/cheaper) can suffice in earlier phases of deployment.
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*Inertia: Traditional generators (normally attached to a large turbine) have “mechanical inertia” because of a spinning large mass, and this helps maintain stability in the power grid. Solar does not have a mechanical device turning, and wind is normally “indirectly” connected to the power grid (via power electronics), so they cannot provide this inertia.
?? References: IEA (2024) “Integrating Solar and Wind, Global experience and emerging challenges”; IEA (2018) “Status of Power System Transformation 2018”
#Renewables #Integration #Power #System
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