Lessons From The Texas Grid: The Levelized Costs of Electricity (LCOE) is a widely quoted, yet often abused 'statistic.' Failing to understand its pitfalls can lead to absurd conclusions.
Bravo!! That explanation was so concise and clear that my 89 yr old mother would "get it".
It makes me ill when I hear high placed politicians (& the ultimate snake oil man - Al Gore) spout off about how cheap wind/solar has become. Al Gore knows better but I really don't think these politicians truly understand the ramifications of the decisions they are making.
Please send this to all elected representatives in all the developed economies - before they leave us all in the dark with their plans to lead us into the enviro light.
p.s. the car/roller-coaster analogy was superb. A short YouTube video on it would race around the world in short order.
Hi PEP, your article is well laid out and I won’t argue with your assessment that renewables need backup, that’s absolutely the case. I think that you weaken your argument for anyone knowledgeable when you fail to combine the output of both wind and solar when running your calculations on annual needs for batteries in a hypothetical renewable only grid. While wind production declines in the summer in Texas, solar tends to be very strong, so that the combination of the two creates a much more balanced production curve. The amount of batteries needed is still high, but nowhere near your figure.
This is particularly true if we stop looking at a renewables only scenario. The last 5% is what really sends costs to the moon, so I for one would be happy with the mostly renewable grid which uses natural gas turbines for those periods when you need an extra boost.
Trying to reach 100% is what creates high cost renewables, but it’s no reason to not go as far as we can in a cost effective way.
Excellent article. I would also point out that Texas is blessed with plentiful renewable energy resources. It is much worse in the rest of the world, particularly in Asia where more than half of the world’s population lives.
Yo this is top tier. Only thing this needs is more sources to meme at various real claims people are making, though there’s no shortage of straw men to burn.
Good luck as you build your durable moat of execution -- the analysis is already there
Bravo!! That explanation was so concise and clear that my 89 yr old mother would "get it".
It makes me ill when I hear high placed politicians (& the ultimate snake oil man - Al Gore) spout off about how cheap wind/solar has become. Al Gore knows better but I really don't think these politicians truly understand the ramifications of the decisions they are making.
Please send this to all elected representatives in all the developed economies - before they leave us all in the dark with their plans to lead us into the enviro light.
p.s. the car/roller-coaster analogy was superb. A short YouTube video on it would race around the world in short order.
Hi PEP, your article is well laid out and I won’t argue with your assessment that renewables need backup, that’s absolutely the case. I think that you weaken your argument for anyone knowledgeable when you fail to combine the output of both wind and solar when running your calculations on annual needs for batteries in a hypothetical renewable only grid. While wind production declines in the summer in Texas, solar tends to be very strong, so that the combination of the two creates a much more balanced production curve. The amount of batteries needed is still high, but nowhere near your figure.
This is particularly true if we stop looking at a renewables only scenario. The last 5% is what really sends costs to the moon, so I for one would be happy with the mostly renewable grid which uses natural gas turbines for those periods when you need an extra boost.
Trying to reach 100% is what creates high cost renewables, but it’s no reason to not go as far as we can in a cost effective way.
Love the analysis on how much it would cost to smooth out the intermittent generation of variable renewables with seasonal storage.
If it’s not expensive storage, it’d have to be underutilized fossil fuels or massively overbuilt renewable generation transmitted from far away.
Excellent article. I would also point out that Texas is blessed with plentiful renewable energy resources. It is much worse in the rest of the world, particularly in Asia where more than half of the world’s population lives.
Yo this is top tier. Only thing this needs is more sources to meme at various real claims people are making, though there’s no shortage of straw men to burn.
Good luck as you build your durable moat of execution -- the analysis is already there
Instant subscription. Eloquently presented. Good work
Educational article that deserves wide dissemination.
Any story that mentions cheap renewables is fraud.