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Sahib said:
If solar/wind power sources are spread over different localities, connected to common grid and of large scale of several hundred megawatts, minimum availability of renewable power in the grid can be assured because if sun light/wind is not available in few localities, it will be available in other localities.
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Up to a point because transformation and transmission losses are a cost killer. Also that still does not help the fact that solar needs to be backed up so you have not negated the other facility costs.

Sahib said:
That is why the POCO is beginning to include installed capacity of wind power sources in their total installed power generation capacity.
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No doubt that minimal wind can be pretty reliable in some places.

As for solar, the sun rises and sets all places and we also have clouds in most places. Solar in dry deserts addresses the clouds but unless you are Joshua you have to face the night.
 
mivey said:
Up to a point because transformation and transmission losses are a cost killer. Also that still does not help the fact that solar needs to be backed up so you have not negated the other facility costs.

No doubt that minimal wind can be pretty reliable in some places.

As for solar, the sun rises and sets all places and we also have clouds in most places. Solar in dry deserts addresses the clouds but unless you are Joshua you have to face the night.
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While it is true that solar and wind resources have difficulties associated with them that spinning resources do not, the difficulties are manageable. ERCOT, the grid operator in Texas monitors weather forecasts and climate data, and they can predict pretty well when renewable resources will be available, or not. And of course sunrise and sunset times are predictable. Coal and nuke generation cannot be switched off and on quickly, but natural gas generators can. Also, many utility scale PV inverter companies are starting to engineer soft start and stop functionality as well as power factor correction and power limiting capability into their products.

There are challenges associated with the incorporation of renewable/sustainable energy sources into grid distribution, certainly, but they are not insurmountable.
 
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K8MHZ said:
BUT, one gallon of gasoline occupies about one cubic foot. One CCF of natural gas occupies one hundred cubic feet.
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& to complete the comparison, equiv 35kwh of Li-Io batteries is about 40 cubic feet.

There is talk in US of power companies using these 35kwh batt packs in EV cars for peak demand supply in exchange for discounts on charging..... Imagine 1,000,000 EV packs avail to the Poco for smoothing out demand.
 
K8MHZ said:
BUT, one gallon of gasoline occupies about one cubic foot. One CCF of natural gas occupies one hundred cubic feet.
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Actually a cubic foot is about 7 US gallons. Natural gas volume is more complicated; a hundred cubic feet of natural gas occupies a hundred cubic feet... at standard temperature and pressure (1 ATM and 25 degrees C). It's under pressure in gas lines, so it occupies commensurately less volume. Mass might be a better comparison.
 
ggunn said:
Actually a cubic foot is about 7 US gallons. Natural gas volume is more complicated; a hundred cubic feet of natural gas occupies a hundred cubic feet... at standard temperature and pressure (1 ATM and 25 degrees C). It's under pressure in gas lines, so it occupies commensurately less volume.
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But unlike LPG, it does not liquefy at any reasonable, non-industrial. combination of temperature and pressure, severely limiting how much you can practically squeeze into a small space.
A CNG tank for an over-the-road truck takes up more space and weighs considerably more than a comparable LPG tank.
 
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