As new large-scale solar and wind projects come online, distribution and transmission systems are already showing signs of strain in handling these highly variable sources of electricity.
Last month, the New York Times reported on the Maple Ridge Wind farm, in upstate New York, that has had to shut down at times because the “regional electric lines have been so congested.”
The article notes that this is becoming a problem in many parts of the country, resulting in some wind projects being put on hold for lack of a means to carry the electricity to regions that need it.
Unfortunately, the situation is only going to get worse. Only a small percent of the total electricity produced in the United States today comes from these wind and solar farms. But many states envision (and some are mandating) a day soon when 20 percent of the total electricity will come from these and other renewable sources.
A quick look at some of the major projects underway gives insight into the nature of the potential problem.
Two planned solar plants in central California will generate about 800 megawatts of power on sunny days. The plants will cover about 12 square miles so they need to be in less densely populated areas than say Los Angeles or San Francisco. For instance, one of the plants will be in San Luis Obispo County, which is not exactly isolated, but it is still about 150 to 200 miles from LA.
And T. Boone Pickens’ plan for wind power seeks to exploit the wind corridor that cuts through the Great Plains states. Again, the sites suitable for this project are in sparsely populated regions of the country and thus will require a means of getting the energy to densely populated areas that need the electricity.
Over the last few years, many investments in distribution and transmission systems have been aimed at improving reliability. Some investments have improved the monitoring of the grid’s condition and the management of discrete devices by adding smarter devices and real-time data sharing capabilities.
The next phase of improvements should address ways to handle anticipated additions from planned and envisioned variable renewable energy sources.
There is no simple solution. Companies naturally do not want to install huge amounts of additional capacity that would go unused for a significant portion of the time.
A smart approach would be to combine improvements in distribution and transmission capacity with investments in other technologies such as local storage. In this way, energy generated at large, remote wind or solar farms could be stored locally. It could then be shifted to regions that need it either when demand grew or when grid capacity was available to carry this electricity. Such an approach would benefit from new storage at the receiving end, too.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/program_areas...
...is an accurate listing of the major users of electric power, most of which are not located anywhere near sources of renewable energy.
In addition, wind farm power could be used to produce and compress hydrogen gas, further reducing the need for additional transmission resources.
One example of a business that could move operations to the regions where the energy is being produced is Internet hosting and remote data center operations. For example, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have built new data centers in the Pacific Northwest to tap the (relatively) low cost hydro-electricity the region has to offer. These centers require few staff to run, so they can be located anywhere.
What other business operations or industries do you think lend themselves to this co-location with available energy?
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