For the power industry integrating renewables is not so simple. The load (power that the customers use) varies throught the day with peaks and lows but it can be predicted and accounted for. The power companies use the preditction to set their generation schedules and make minute adjustments. When you have a renewable like wind/solar/wave which can suddenly stop or start producing power the Power Plants generating units must now make large adjustments because the load at that time will still remain the same. This can work both ways too. At a load peak the renewable drops to 0 and the PP must ramp up and generate more. Lets also postulate when the load is at the daily minimum. The PP will also be at a minimum. What if the renewables are at 0 MW and suddenly the renewables start pumping MW into the grid? What do the PP do? There is more generation than load, now they must decrease output. However the PP units are aready at thier lowest output so one of two things will happen. The PP will either trip offline or the operators will pull equipment offline in a hurry to avoid a unit trip. Neither is good for PPs which are supposed to constantly operate. Having a combination of steady renewable power output and a “smart” electric grid will prevent PP from dancing around. Utilities will be much more open to having renewables tied into the grid.

Why can’t PP react quickly to grid changes? The most efficient type of PP we have are based on the steam cycle. Fuel is burnt in a boiler to heat up water to steam which is shot through a turnbine conencted to a generator. Whatever is left over is condensed back to water and then goes back to the boiler to be heated again. Control of the boiler is very slow compared to the type of MW fluxuations that could come from a renewable source.

For the power industry integrating renewables is not so simple. The load (power that the customers use) varies throught the day with peaks and lows but it can be predicted and accounted for. The power companies use the preditction to set their generation schedules and make minute adjustments. When you have a renewable like wind/solar/wave which can suddenly stop or start producing power the Power Plants generating units must now make large adjustments because the load at that time will still remain the same. This can work both ways too. At a load peak the renewable drops to 0 and the PP must ramp up and generate more. Lets also postulate when the load is at the daily minimum. The PP will also be at a minimum. What if the renewables are at 0 MW and suddenly the renewables start pumping MW into the grid? What do the PP do? There is more generation than load, now they must decrease output. However the PP units are aready at thier lowest output so one of two things will happen. The PP will either trip offline or the operators will pull equipment offline in a hurry to avoid a unit trip. Neither is good for PPs which are supposed to constantly operate. Having a combination of steady renewable power output and a “smart” electric grid will prevent PP from dancing around. Utilities will be much more open to having renewables tied into the grid.

Why can’t PP react quickly to grid changes? The most efficient type of PP we have are based on the steam cycle. Fuel is burnt in a boiler to heat up water to steam which is shot through a turnbine conencted to a generator. Whatever is left over is condensed back to water and then goes back to the boiler to be heated again. Control of the boiler is very slow compared to the type of MW fluxuations that could come from a renewable source.