there is a major problem with these renewable energy sources. Their electrical output is not dispatchable. Their output is entirely unable respond to electricity demand as and when needed. Energy is contributed to the grid in a haphazard manner dependent on the weather, and certainly not necessarily when it is required.
For example solar power inevitably varies according to the time of day, the state of the weather and also of course radically with the seasons. Essentially solar power might only work effectively in Southern latitudes and it certainly does not do well in Northern Europe. In Germany the massive commitment to solar energy might well provide up to ~20% of country wide demand for a few hours on some fine summer days either side of noon, but at the time of maximum power demand on winter evenings solar energy input is necessarily nil.
Electricity generation from wind turbines is equally fickle, as for example in a week in July this year shown above. Similarly an established high pressure zone with little wind over the whole of Northern Europe is a common occurrence in winter months, that is when electricity demand is likely to be at its highest.
Conversely on occasions renewable energy output may be in excess of demand and this has to dumped unproductively. There is still no solution to electrical energy storage on a sufficiently large industrial scale. That is the reason that the word “nominally” is used here in relation to the measured outputs from renewable energy sources.
Showing posts with label solar energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solar energy. Show all posts
Sunday, 31 August 2014
The truth about wind and solar power: "Their output is entirely unable to respond to electricity demand as and when needed"
It is good to be reminded of the fact that wind and solar power are not even close to solving the energy problems of highly industrialized countries:
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
German solar energy losing its shine: Jobs more than halved in two years - 55% less capacity installed last year
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| Solar module on German Autobahn (wiki) |
In spite of being heavily subsidized, German solar energy is losing its shine:
The number of jobs in the German solar energy industry has more than halved in two years, figures released by the government on Tuesday revealed.
Unable to keep up with competition with Chinese producers, big solar producers such as Conergy, Solon and Q-Cells have all registered for insolvency over the past few years.
With their demise came job losses. Figures from the Federal Office for Statistics, seen by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), revealed a huge drop.
Since the beginning of 2012, more than half of the then 10,200 solar energy jobs in Germany have been cut.
For the first time in nearly half a decade, the number of Germans working in the solar business stood at under 5,000 in 2014.
And that's not all:
The German Solar Industry Association is telling us that 55% less solar power capacity was installed in 2013 than the year before ....
Monday, 13 January 2014
Reality overtakes hype: "Green" Germany returns to coal - "wind and solar power production effectively stopped in early December"
Reality has overtaken hype in Germany, which has been marketing itself as a world leader in "green energy":
IT'S been a black Christmas for green thinkers as Germany, the world leader in rooftop solar and pride of the renewable energy revolution has confirmed its rapid return to coal. --
Countries such as Germany that have been most outspoken about climate change mitigation are reporting increasing carbon emissions and rising energy costs.
The US - derided by environmental campaigners as too slow to respond to the climate change challenge - has reduced its carbon emissions significantly while simultaneously lowering energy prices, fuelling a much needed resurgence in manufacturing.
The divergence has come about largely because while Europe has pushed headlong into renewables with generous public subsidies, the US has harnessed new technology to unlock vast resources of unconventional oil and gas.
This meant in 2012 the US spent about one-third as much as the EU on renewable energy subsidies, $21 billion against $57bn, according to IEA figures.
It all adds an ironic twist to the campaign mounted against the US by European nations for its refusal to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
While the German wind and solar energy lobbies have been busy peddling the "success" of their subsidized production facilities, the reality on the ground looked somewhat different in early December:
The scale of the "intermittency" problem for renewables - and the problem it presents for policymakers and energy consumers - was outlined in Die Welt, which reported that Germany's wind and solar power production effectively stopped in early December.
"More than 23,000 wind turbines stood still," it said. "One million photovoltaic systems stopped work completely.
"For a whole week, coal, nuclear and gas power plants had to generate an estimated 95 per cent of Germany's electricity supply."
The doldrums are the flip side to the triumphant statements from renewable energy companies when production figures spike in times of favourable weather.
This is a primary reason why political support for renewables is starting to wear thin. Indications are a Europe-wide squeeze is on, with the European Commission reportedly preparing to order an end to price subsidies for wind and solar by the end of the decade.
According to Britain's The Telegraph, the commission, which oversees the European single market, is preparing to argue that the onshore wind and solar power industries are mature and should be allowed to operate without support from taxpayers.
Frustration is also increasing at the costly failure of several multi-billion-dollar offshore wind farm developments which had once been widely touted as the future of renewable power.
Read the entire article here
IT'S been a black Christmas for green thinkers as Germany, the world leader in rooftop solar and pride of the renewable energy revolution has confirmed its rapid return to coal. --
Countries such as Germany that have been most outspoken about climate change mitigation are reporting increasing carbon emissions and rising energy costs.
The US - derided by environmental campaigners as too slow to respond to the climate change challenge - has reduced its carbon emissions significantly while simultaneously lowering energy prices, fuelling a much needed resurgence in manufacturing.
The divergence has come about largely because while Europe has pushed headlong into renewables with generous public subsidies, the US has harnessed new technology to unlock vast resources of unconventional oil and gas.
This meant in 2012 the US spent about one-third as much as the EU on renewable energy subsidies, $21 billion against $57bn, according to IEA figures.
It all adds an ironic twist to the campaign mounted against the US by European nations for its refusal to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
While the German wind and solar energy lobbies have been busy peddling the "success" of their subsidized production facilities, the reality on the ground looked somewhat different in early December:
The scale of the "intermittency" problem for renewables - and the problem it presents for policymakers and energy consumers - was outlined in Die Welt, which reported that Germany's wind and solar power production effectively stopped in early December.
"More than 23,000 wind turbines stood still," it said. "One million photovoltaic systems stopped work completely.
"For a whole week, coal, nuclear and gas power plants had to generate an estimated 95 per cent of Germany's electricity supply."
The doldrums are the flip side to the triumphant statements from renewable energy companies when production figures spike in times of favourable weather.
This is a primary reason why political support for renewables is starting to wear thin. Indications are a Europe-wide squeeze is on, with the European Commission reportedly preparing to order an end to price subsidies for wind and solar by the end of the decade.
According to Britain's The Telegraph, the commission, which oversees the European single market, is preparing to argue that the onshore wind and solar power industries are mature and should be allowed to operate without support from taxpayers.
Frustration is also increasing at the costly failure of several multi-billion-dollar offshore wind farm developments which had once been widely touted as the future of renewable power.
Read the entire article here
Monday, 28 October 2013
Wind and solar power put German net stability at risk - cost of a 60 minute blackout: 600 million euro!
Germans are beginning to see the reality of Angela Merkel's hastily undertaken energy transition policy. The huge subsidies for wind and solar power have led to ever increasing utility bills both for households and businesses in Germany, and - what is really worrying - the stability of Germany's electricity generation is at risk.
The German think tank Hamburger Weltwirtschaftsinstitut (HWWI) has now published a study, according to which the cost of even a short energy blackout - one hour - would be close to 600 million euro - no small amount, even in rich Germany.
Particularly Germany's industrial engine in the south should be worried, according to the study:
In the light of past experiences in Germany, the scenario of a county-wide blackout underlying our analysis may seem unlikely. However, recent studies point to considerable dangers for network security resulting from the shift in German power supply towards renewable energies (Dena, 2010). In this regard, a major drawback of electricity generation through wind and solar energy is its dependence on current weather conditions. An ongoing expansion of these energy sources will thus cause overall power supply to become more volatile and less predictable. In general, this renders the task of balancing feed-in and consumption volumes at each point in time more difficult for network operators. This is aggravated by a spatial shift of generation capacities. Due to climate conditions, the installation of wind turbines tends to be more profitable in the northern part of Germany, especially when considering the potentials of offshore wind parks. Already today, the result is a gap in the supply potential of electricity between North and South. At the same time, high-demand areas are still concentrated in West and South.---
A North-South divide is apparent, where the north appears more saturated in terms of electricity. In the South, only a few counties have high levels of electricity saturation, which are the locations of larger conventional power plants. Considering the fact that several of the nuclear power plants, primarily located in the South, have been terminated in 2011 and the remaining are set to be shut down in 2022, the level of electricity autarky in southern Germany will further be on the decline. The consequential need for long-distance power transmission will put further pressure on transmission capacities.
No wonder then that the CEOs of Europe's four largest energy companies recently called for an end to subsidies for wind and solar power:
The stability of Europe’s electricity generation is at risk from the warped market structure caused by skyrocketing renewable energy subsidies that have swarmed across the continent over the last decade.
This sentiment was echoed a week ago by the CEOs of Europe’s largest energy companies, who produce almost half of Europe’s electricity. This group joined voices calling for an end to subsidies for wind and solar power, saying the subsidies have led to unacceptably high utility bills for residences and businesses, and even risk causing continent-wide blackouts
The German think tank Hamburger Weltwirtschaftsinstitut (HWWI) has now published a study, according to which the cost of even a short energy blackout - one hour - would be close to 600 million euro - no small amount, even in rich Germany.
Particularly Germany's industrial engine in the south should be worried, according to the study:
In the light of past experiences in Germany, the scenario of a county-wide blackout underlying our analysis may seem unlikely. However, recent studies point to considerable dangers for network security resulting from the shift in German power supply towards renewable energies (Dena, 2010). In this regard, a major drawback of electricity generation through wind and solar energy is its dependence on current weather conditions. An ongoing expansion of these energy sources will thus cause overall power supply to become more volatile and less predictable. In general, this renders the task of balancing feed-in and consumption volumes at each point in time more difficult for network operators. This is aggravated by a spatial shift of generation capacities. Due to climate conditions, the installation of wind turbines tends to be more profitable in the northern part of Germany, especially when considering the potentials of offshore wind parks. Already today, the result is a gap in the supply potential of electricity between North and South. At the same time, high-demand areas are still concentrated in West and South.---
A North-South divide is apparent, where the north appears more saturated in terms of electricity. In the South, only a few counties have high levels of electricity saturation, which are the locations of larger conventional power plants. Considering the fact that several of the nuclear power plants, primarily located in the South, have been terminated in 2011 and the remaining are set to be shut down in 2022, the level of electricity autarky in southern Germany will further be on the decline. The consequential need for long-distance power transmission will put further pressure on transmission capacities.
No wonder then that the CEOs of Europe's four largest energy companies recently called for an end to subsidies for wind and solar power:
The stability of Europe’s electricity generation is at risk from the warped market structure caused by skyrocketing renewable energy subsidies that have swarmed across the continent over the last decade.
This sentiment was echoed a week ago by the CEOs of Europe’s largest energy companies, who produce almost half of Europe’s electricity. This group joined voices calling for an end to subsidies for wind and solar power, saying the subsidies have led to unacceptably high utility bills for residences and businesses, and even risk causing continent-wide blackouts
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Europe's leading energy companies want to put brakes on the building of new wind farms and solar panels
Europe's leading energy companies are warning that the European Union's climate change policy is destroying Europe's competitiveness. On Tuesday nine leading energy companies - GDF Suez, Eni, Enel, E.ON, RWE, GasTerra, Iberdrola, Gas Natural and Vattenfall - presented a package of proposals to the European Parliament:
The proposals, which call for “ambitious but realistic” targets, were designed to sway the ongoing debate in Brussels concerning new climate change goals for 2030.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Gérard Mestrallet, chief executive of GDF Suez, said: “We have to reduce the speed at which Europe is building new wind farms and solar panels. At the moment, it is not sustainable.”
Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, voiced his agreement.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph at the Ambrosetti forum of global policy-makers at Lake Como, he said: “I am in favour of a green agenda, but we can't be religious about this. We need a new energy policy.
“We have to stop pretending, because we can't sacrifice Europe's industry for climate goals that are not realistic, and are not being enforced worldwide.”
Mr Tajani also warned that Europe's idealistic race for renewables was driving the cost of electricity out of the realm of affordability.
The vast expense of energy is leaving Europe struggling to compete against the US, he argued.
The price of natural gas in the US has plummeted by 80% as the shale revolution pushes forward, leaving Europe lagging behind in the industry competition stakes.
It is, of course, excellent that a person like Antonio Tajani understands the problem, but knowing the strength of the climate change and wind&solar lobbies, it is highly unlikely that very much will change to the better in Brussels.
It is, of course, excellent that a person like Antonio Tajani understands the problem, but knowing the strength of the climate change and wind&solar lobbies, it is highly unlikely that very much will change to the better in Brussels.
Friday, 5 July 2013
Auf Wiedersehen to Germany's solar energy manufacturers - one after another they all disappear
The demise of the German solar industry is now almost complete: Today Conergy, the once flagship of Germany's renewable energy industry, filed for insolvency.
Conergy and its domestic counterparts are under pressure as subsidies fall at home amid competition from Chinese solar providers that has depressed margins and panel prices
Q-Cells, Bosch Solar, Schott Solar, Sovello, Schüco, Odersun, Würth Solar ... one after another, all the much touted big German solar energy companies have disappeared. Only one, Solarworld, remains, but the company is struggling, and its future is anything but certain.
So much for the new "green jobs" industry that Angela Merkel and her government colleagues have been busy promoting - and the German taxpayers subsidizing - both at home and abroad ...
Conergy and its domestic counterparts are under pressure as subsidies fall at home amid competition from Chinese solar providers that has depressed margins and panel prices
Q-Cells, Bosch Solar, Schott Solar, Sovello, Schüco, Odersun, Würth Solar ... one after another, all the much touted big German solar energy companies have disappeared. Only one, Solarworld, remains, but the company is struggling, and its future is anything but certain.
So much for the new "green jobs" industry that Angela Merkel and her government colleagues have been busy promoting - and the German taxpayers subsidizing - both at home and abroad ...
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Die Welt about the total failure of Germany's heavily subsidized solar and biofuel industries
The total failure of Angela Merkel's "green" energy policy is becoming more evident every day. The quality daily Die Welt now reports that the billions of subsidies to the solar and biofuel industries have been a total waste of German taxpayers' money.
Only a few years ago the German government proudly let it be known that these two eco-industries soon would overtake the traditional machine engineering and car industries and provide jobs for hundreds of thousands Germans.
Now it's time for a reality check, die Welt writes:
"The German solar industry is disappearing before our eyes. Within a year more than one third of all companies have gone out of business. Solar subsidies worth over 100 billion euros during twenty years created a flash in the pan on the labor market.
According to official statistics the German solar cell and module industry now employs only 6000 people.
Now it appears that the biofuel industry, another eco-energy branch is foundering, which means that another cornerstone of the German energy transition and climate change policies is disappearing."
Germans are a hard working and law abiding people, who do not easily take to the streets in order to protest. But if this sad waste of ordinary taxpayers' money is allowed to continue, I would not be surprised if they would begin to react more forcefully.
Only a few years ago the German government proudly let it be known that these two eco-industries soon would overtake the traditional machine engineering and car industries and provide jobs for hundreds of thousands Germans.
Now it's time for a reality check, die Welt writes:
"The German solar industry is disappearing before our eyes. Within a year more than one third of all companies have gone out of business. Solar subsidies worth over 100 billion euros during twenty years created a flash in the pan on the labor market.
According to official statistics the German solar cell and module industry now employs only 6000 people.
Now it appears that the biofuel industry, another eco-energy branch is foundering, which means that another cornerstone of the German energy transition and climate change policies is disappearing."
Germans are a hard working and law abiding people, who do not easily take to the streets in order to protest. But if this sad waste of ordinary taxpayers' money is allowed to continue, I would not be surprised if they would begin to react more forcefully.
Friday, 22 March 2013
Another day - another solar energy failure: German Bosch quits the solar business
It is time to say bye, bye to another major solar energy business. This time it is the German engineering giant Bosch, which is throwing in the towel:
German engineering company Bosch said Friday that it is abandoning its solar energy business, because there is no way to make it economically viable amid overcapacity and huge price pressure in the industry.
German engineering company Bosch said Friday that it is abandoning its solar energy business, because there is no way to make it economically viable amid overcapacity and huge price pressure in the industry.
The solar power industry has been hit by falling subsidies, weaker sales and increasingly stiff price competition, especially by Chinese manufacturers. Robert Bosch GmbH's move came after German industrial conglomerate Siemens announced last October that it would give up its loss-making solar business.
Bosch said that it will stop making products such as solar cells, wafers and modules at the beginning of next year. It will sell a plant in Venissieux, France, and is abandoning a plan to build a new plant in Malaysia.
The solar energy division, which employs about 3,000 people, lost around 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) last year. The company said that, despite efforts to reduce manufacturing costs, it was unable to offset a drop in prices of as much as 40 percent.
Earlier this week, Suntech Power, the world's largest producer of solar panels, began bankruptcy proceedings.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Siemens gets rid of its solar power activities - does not want to become another Solyndra
Another sign of the unraveling of the solar power business - German Siemens does not want to become another Solyndra:
German engineering giant Siemens said Monday that it plans to pull out of solar energy
where business expectations have not been met and is currently negotiating to sell its activities in this area.
"The company plans to divest its solar business activities and is currently holding talks with potential buyers on this subject. Siemens intends to focus its renewable energy activities on wind and hydro power," the group said in a statement.
"The energy division will be slimmed down and the Solar and Hydro Division will be discontinued," it said, adding that the Solar and Hydro Division generated revenue "in the low triple-digit millions" in the business year ended September 30, 2012 and has "roughly 800 employees."
Siemens explained that the solar business had not been as profitable as hoped.
The next logical step for Siemens is to also get rid of its wind power activities. That is likely to happen when more and more governments begin to reduce subsidies for the ineffective, overexpensive, landscape destroying and bird killing wind turbines.
German engineering giant Siemens said Monday that it plans to pull out of solar energy
where business expectations have not been met and is currently negotiating to sell its activities in this area.
"The company plans to divest its solar business activities and is currently holding talks with potential buyers on this subject. Siemens intends to focus its renewable energy activities on wind and hydro power," the group said in a statement.
"The energy division will be slimmed down and the Solar and Hydro Division will be discontinued," it said, adding that the Solar and Hydro Division generated revenue "in the low triple-digit millions" in the business year ended September 30, 2012 and has "roughly 800 employees."
Siemens explained that the solar business had not been as profitable as hoped.
The next logical step for Siemens is to also get rid of its wind power activities. That is likely to happen when more and more governments begin to reduce subsidies for the ineffective, overexpensive, landscape destroying and bird killing wind turbines.
Friday, 17 August 2012
Merkel´s failed energy transition: Wind and solar power causing major damage to German industry
"It was 3 a.m. on a Wednesday when the machines suddenly ground to a halt at Hydro Aluminium in Hamburg. The rolling mill's highly sensitive monitor stopped production so abruptly that the aluminum belts snagged. They hit the machines and destroyed a piece of the mill. The reason: The voltage off the electricity grid weakened for just a millisecond."
Angela Merkel´s failed energy transition policy - relying on wind and solar power - is beginning to seriously damage German industrial production:
Sudden fluctuations in Germany's power grid are causing major damage to a number of industrial companies. While many of them have responded by getting their own power generators and regulators to help minimize the risks, they warn that companies might be forced to leave if the government doesn't deal with the issues fast.
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Angela Merkel´s failed energy transition policy - relying on wind and solar power - is beginning to seriously damage German industrial production:
Sudden fluctuations in Germany's power grid are causing major damage to a number of industrial companies. While many of them have responded by getting their own power generators and regulators to help minimize the risks, they warn that companies might be forced to leave if the government doesn't deal with the issues fast.
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At other industrial companies, executives at the highest levels are also thinking about freeing themselves from Germany's electricity grid to cushion the consequences of the country's transition to renewable energy.
Likewise, as more and more companies with sensitive control systems are securing production through batteries and generators, the companies that manufacture them are benefiting. "You can hardly find a company that isn't worrying about its power supply," said Joachim Pfeiffer, a parliamentarian and economic policy spokesman for the governing center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Behind this worry stands the transition to renewable energy laid out by Chancellor Angela Merkel last year in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Though the transition has been sluggish so far, Merkel set the ambitious goals of boosting renewable energy to 35 percent of total power consumption by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 while phasing out all of Germany's nuclear power reactors by 2022.
The problem is that wind and solar farms just don't deliver the same amount of continuous electricity compared with nuclear and gas-fired power plants. To match traditional energy sources, grid operators must be able to exactly predict how strong the wind will blow or the sun will shine.
But such an exact prediction is difficult. Even when grid operators are off by just a few percentage points, voltage in the grid slackens. That has no affect on normal household appliances, such as vacuum cleaners and coffee machines. But for high-performance computers, for example, outages lasting even just a millisecond can quickly trigger system failures.
A survey of members of the Association of German Industrial Energy Companies (VIK) revealed that the number of short interruptions to the German electricity grid has grown by 29 percent in the past three years. Over the same time period, the number of service failures has grown 31 percent, and almost half of those failures have led to production stoppages. Damages have ranged between €10,000 and hundreds of thousands of euros, according to company information.
Read the entire article here
The situation is fast becoming so bad for the industry that even the economic policy spokesman for Merkel´s own party, CDU, is warning about dire consequences:
"In the long run, if we can't guarantee a stable grid, companies will leave (Germany)," says Pfeiffer, the CDU energy expert. "As a center of industry, we can't afford that."
The only solution to this growing problem is a rollback of the wind and solar power expansion, because grid operators will never be able to exactly predict how strong the wind will blow and the sun will shine!
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