Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRenewables briefly covered 78 percent of German electricity
http://energytransition.de/2015/07/renewables-covered-78percent-of-german-electricity/
On July 25, Germany surpassed the old record of 74 percent renewable electricity. But perhaps the most interesting aspect is power trading between France and Germany on that day. Craig Morris explains.
At the end of July, the storm Zeljko passed over northern Europe, causing considerable wind damage and flooding in some areas. Here in southern Germany, however, it was a relatively sunny day. In the north, where it was windy, Germany has most of its wind turbines installed. In the south, it has most of its solar. The combination of sunny weather in the south with strong wind throughout the country is rare and led to a new record.
(snip)
Though Germany was a net exporter of electricity at the time, the trading situation with France is illustrative. The chart below from French grid operator RTE shows that France was a tremendous net exporter of electricity on Saturday, July 25 at a time of low power demand. During the early morning, Germany (orange bars on the left) imported a tremendous amount of electricity not because it needed it, but because French nuclear plants do not like to ramp down any more than the German ones do, so they were selling power to the Germans cheaply. This situation once again disproves the common notion that Germany can rely on French nuclear when it needs power. In reality, trading takes place based on price, not dire need to prevent blackouts. The Germans import nuclear power when demand and hence the spot market price is low.
A look at the trading prices reveals in fact that the German prices were a bit higher that Saturday. Peak and base prices averaged around 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in the Phelix zone (Germany and Austria), whereas French prices were closer to two cents. At those prices, the French should have been importing from Germany but there simply was no need, and any imports would have forced the country to ramp down its nuclear plants even further. Its further proof of the fundamental incompatibility of inflexible nuclear power with fluctuating wind and solar.
There is more on the link.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
4 replies, 667 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (3)
ReplyReply to this post
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Renewables briefly covered 78 percent of German electricity (Original Post)
Uncle Joe
Jul 2015
OP
ladjf
(17,320 posts)1. Smart people. nt
Uncle Joe
(58,366 posts)2. That's true, ladjf but we can be smart people too, particulary
when we as a society learn to place more value on intelligence and long term thinking, instead of kowtowing to the established monied interests
ladjf
(17,320 posts)3. You certainly said a very true statement. You summed one of our biggest
problem in one sentence.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)4. Recommend. nt