10 Comments

These two graphs tell you what you need to know about a wind + solar grid carbon intensity and overall grid efficiency, France vs Germany compared, hourly avg CO2 gms/kwh:

https://twitter.com/energybants/status/1647815476683087875/photo/1

And here is daily avg CO2 gms/kwh from 2012 to 2023:

https://twitter.com/energybants/status/1676203551427825667/photo/1

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CA has been tracking its grid too- https://www.caiso.com/Documents/GreenhouseGasEmissions-TrackingReport-Feb2024.pdf

The curtailment challenges facing CAISO might be bit better this week, than last, as one of Diablo's reactors is now off-line.

https://www.caiso.com/Documents/Wind_SolarReal-TimeDispatchCurtailmentReportApr09_2024.pdf

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Do you have access to CA's data? If so, a plot of capacity factor of CA's renewables over those same periods analyzed would be revealing! Plot that against Diablo and all other sources from which CAISO bought power Does any of it come from Palo Verde?

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It’s a very interesting suggestion! It’s been a minute since I’ve gone in depth on CAISO but yes, some days winds capacity is extremely low.

Diablo runs about 87-90% capacity and Palo’ lifetime utilization is a a little bit lower.

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thank you, sir.

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Yes, thanks for the links! Unfortunately it’s pretty much the same story, different characters!

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Thanks for sharing! Yep! That sounds about right!

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Assuming you have enough dispatchable generation online to cover the swings, the ramp rates can really push AGCs ability to keep up. All that swinging puts a lot of thermal stress on traditional generation.

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100%. Last week when Alberta had the brownouts, the AESO was short 900MW of wind and the Keephills# 2 plant was running at just over 100% capacity before it tripped, sending the grid into brownouts.

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The thermal shock of a trip usually equals 200 to 500 hours of run time wear and tear.

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