Renewable Energy - Why is it not yet a thing
Part I.
Renewable Energy – Why is it not yet a thing?
It is probably a well-known fact that green technologies such as solar or wind energy are “cool stuff” that convert free, renewable and clean energy sources into electricity. As a result, they are globally acknowledged as our savior against climate change and fossil-fuel crisis. However, if that is the case, why is it not yet a thing? Why haven’t we seen jungles of wind turbines along our coastal lines and endless arrays of solar panels on the deserts as in some sci-fi movies?
Expensive technology ?
A common explanation is that renewable energy is still too expensive compared to other traditional fossil-fuel based technologies. Admittedly, the initial investment cost of solar panels and wind turbines are still relatively high. Nevertheless, due to its low operation prices, in overall, the whole life-cycle cost of a renewable energy facility is not much different from other conventional power plants with the same capacity. Furthermore, a green energy project might be expensive to individuals but to governments and giant corporates, it is not that unaffordable considering all of its priceless benefits
The real culprit - Intermittency
The main culprit that hinders the development of renewable energy is renewable energy itself or to be precise its intermittent nature. Electricity production from renewable energy sources depends largely on weather conditions and hence is extremely unpredictable. As electricity must be consumed at the moment it is produced, there are usually mismatches between supply and demand if there is a high proportion of renewable energy integration in our grids. In other world, renewable energy is not there when we need them and ironically, the moment when we don’t need them, they start producing enormously.
This is not just a mere economic problem of unbalanced supply and demand. In power system, the mismatch between electricity production and consumption would lead to voltage and frequency violations and consequently impose severe threats on the stability of the grid networks. Equipment damages and power interruptions are the main concerns in the scenario with high renewable energy penetration.
So yes, we need more and more green energy projects to offset our C02 emissions; but on the other hand, we don’t want to live in the dark or lost billions of important production line or even human lives in hospitals due to power blackouts caused by intermittent renewable energy production. This is still one of the biggest technical challenges that scientists, engineers around the world are determined to overcome in order to boost up the development of renewable energy.