California is awash in renewable energy — except when it’s most needed

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California has moved quickly to build up solar power, but has not yet figured out how to store it for when demand peaks or to avert blackouts.

The explanation illustrates one of the paradoxes confronting California as it rushes to transition to a clean-energy economy: The state has built up so much renewable energy production in recent years that it can rarely use it all during peak production hours. But it also doesn’t have enough storage capacity to hang onto it for when it might be needed.

But solar and wind generation in California is at this point far ahead of storage capacity, and in some cases isn’t sited near adequate transmission lines. Batteries and transmission lines can be costly to build and find space for, feeding skepticism from the fossil fuel industry about green energy.

The practice of rejecting renewable energy generation is called “curtailment,” and it’s risen swiftly in California in recent years — before dropping off slightly last year — as the state pushes aggressively to add more renewables to its power mix, according to calculations by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 2020, the California Independent System Operator curtailed some 1.

 

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Probably more about the need to build the storage than understanding. The system was stressed, but no blackouts. Storage facilities can be built if needed. Individual home/building storage can also help. CA uses different energy resources towards goal of clean energy.

Ok. So time to innovate and take it to the next stage.

Possible solution solves 2 problems. Pipe in Great Lakes H2O just prior to where it empties into ocean. Enroute West where at various points store H2O in high reservoirs as stored energy. Release Hydro when xtra power required. You get needed H2O & stored energy for high demand.

A perfect example of putting cart before the horse. Instead of weighing carefully all the complex interactions such a move sets in play as they scramble to go Green there's very little thought put into all the various unintended consequences that could flow out of such decisions.

Record heat wave for ten straight days? No it wasn’t. There were four records set from Sept 1 to Sept 12 in Sacramento. Check it yourself. Why are you saying ten straight days? ericawerner

I'm only 18, but if I was in charge I would have kept the nuclear power running. At least until I figured out how to replace it.

If it's excess power that will be wasted anyway, pump liquid up a hill and store it a reservoir, when power is needed, you have a hydro electric plant waiting to use. It's not efficient, but if the energy was originally going to be lost anyway, it's a net gain.

Yet Elon Musk has built a battery array in Australia which could do exactly this. Maybe he should have been on that instead of digging the tunnel everyone's already forgotten about🍻

Distributing electrify has always had challenges. The farther it goes the more you lose and it can’t be easily stored. This is all electricity, not just green. Why do you think we’ve been having black outs for decades.

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