How High-Voltage Direct Current Lines Could Better Connect Solar and Wind to the Current Grid Comparing the Routes: HVAC Versus HVDC It is a question on the minds of grid planners throughout the United States: How can we tap into the nation’s best renewable resources at the lowest cost? That … [continued]
South America has a lot of sun and a lot of space, and solar energy has grown from a small player to the main driver of generation growth in several countries in the region (making their already clean grids even cleaner). Today we look at the grids of Chile, Brazil, and Colombia, all of which have already made solar a cornerstone of their generation or are working to do so in the near future.
New Approach to Transmission Planning Links Renewable Energy Zones to Major Load Centers via Longer, High-Voltage Transmission A new approach to grid planning could make it possible to power your home with the nation’s best and lowest-cost wind and solar energy, no matter where you live. Researchers at the National … [continued]
The world’s longest electricity cable connection, Viking Link, began pushing electrons from Denmark directly to the UK last week. The DKK 13 billion ($1.92 billion) investment has been almost 4 years in the making and is the first physical connection between the two otherwise completely separate energy systems. Viking Link … [continued]
For the past few years there’s been a sub-genre of studies trying to pretend that making hydrogen in one place and using pipelines to move it to other places is better than just moving the electrons using HVDC transmission. It’s the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies’ turn to get it … [continued]
This question is asked regularly of me these days. After all, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) is the new pipeline, doesn’t care if it’s run underwater, underground or through a steel pipe, and the millions of kilometers of pipelines in the world are going to be decommissioned at an accelerating rate … [continued]
Offshore wind offers advantages of greater capacity than solar energy, more stability than onshore wind power, and more importantly, decreases the need for fossil fuels and associated emissions of pollution and carbon dioxide. Countries such as China, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark are leading global offshore wind installation … [continued]
There are about 200 GW of HVDC cables stretching 58,000 kilometers in operation today, and about 180 GW planned stretching about 45,000 kilometers in planning and construction.
DOE Wind Energy Technologies Office Selects 15 Projects Totaling $27 Million to Address Key Deployment Challenges for Offshore, Land-Based, and Distributed Wind In December 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) released a funding opportunity to lower costs and address barriers to deployment of wind … [continued]
The takeaway for me was that at least this group of executives cared about the planet and were looking to do their part.
