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Tag Archives: wind energy
Germany’s Energiewende keeps going
By Dave Elliott
Germany is still powering ahead, with renewables supplying over 32% of annual electricity needs and hoping to get to 80% by 2050, with the last nuclear plant phased out by 2022. The nation’s 106GW of renewables briefly supplied 87% of its electricity at one point recently. However, it’s not all plain sailing. Certainly there have been plenty of critical views on its ambitious Energiewende transition programme, some predicting its demise. And, worried about the cost, with an election looming, the government has been slowing it all down. So what lies ahead?
Nuclear or renewables – two new scenarios
By Dave Elliott
Guest posts by Energy Matters’ commentators Alex Terrell and Andy Dawson present two rival UK scenarios for 2050 with, respectively, high nuclear and high renewables. It’s an interesting exercise. They looked at DECC’s 2050 Pathways models, but say ‘it’s far from clear if the underlying models take adequate account of variations in demand’. So they developed their own demand projections.
Whatever next?
By Dave Elliott
Simon Taylor’s ‘The Fall and Rise of Nuclear Power in Britain’ (UIT Cambridge) is a readable scamper through the history of the UK nuclear programme, warts and all, with much detail on who did what. The government’s Chief Scientists, Sir David King and Sir David MacKay, are seen as having played key roles in recent years, and Taylor seems to accept the resultant official view that renewables won’t be sufficient: ‘During those inevitable dreary November days when the UK has grey skies and no wind, it will be thermal power, whether gas-fired or nuclear, which keeps the UK moving, lit and warm. Nuclear therefore has a place in the mix for the foreseeable future’.
Renewables and nuclear both have problems
By Dave Elliott
Nuclear and renewables continue to be seen as rivals, with, as part of the debate, studies emerging that address their problems. A study by the Energy Institute at University College London says the UK’s proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear plant will be obsolete by the time it starts up (possibly EDF says in 2025/6) since it will be in competition with cheaper low carbon options, including wind and PV solar. These sources are variable, but at times they will produce all the electricity needed, leaving no room for Hinkley unless their output is curtailed. At other times they will only make small contributions, but the UCL team calculates that only around 20GW of ‘firm’ inputs like Hinkley will be needed to operate for more than half the year by 2030 to meet the gaps and peak demand. And there are cheaper more flexible balancing options for this than Hinkley.
Russia could win
By Dave Elliott
Renewable energy could supply Russia and Central Asian countries with all the electricity they need by 2030, and cut costs significantly, according to a new study from Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in Finland. It says that renewable energy is the cheapest option for the region and could make Russia very energy competitive in the future. A 100% renewable energy system for Russia and Central Asia would, it claims, be roughly 50% lower in cost than a system based on the latest European nuclear technology or carbon capture and storage.
All Energy: an ecumenical approach
By Dave Elliott
The All Energy Conference in Scotland, despite its title, usually focuses on renewables but, some feel provocatively, it has of late also included sessions on nuclear. A petition was raised against this, with over 1,700 signatories, but an ecumenical approach does have its attractions – we get to hear from all the contenders and can form an impression of the overall state of play. Better surely than a partisan ‘no platform’ stance?
PV solar in Germany: too much of a good thing?
By Dave Elliott
An interesting study from the German Development Institute (DIE) of Germany’s ambitious green energy policy asks whether its support for PV solar, and its subsequent rapid expansion, has been a good idea. PV has expanded to over 38GW to almost match wind, now at 40GW, but it has been a costly exercise, since PV was much more expensive than wind. As a result PV has received the lion’s share of support, up to 3 times more than wind, in part since it expanded under the Feed-in Tariff much faster than expected. And although its costs have dropped dramatically, it is still getting proportionately more of the subsidy. Too much some say.
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