Denmark generates 100+% of its electrical needs from wind

[begreen]

Windy day and they didn't even need to use their full 4.8 GW capacity. Sold a lot off to neighbors.

http://www.theguardian.com/environm...wind-windfarm-power-exceed-electricity-demand

 

[jebatty]

Kind of like an oil well and a gusher without a tank to store. Solution: build a tank and a pipeline. Which is exactly what happened. Solution for wind/PV is the same.

 

[woodgeek]

Great for the Danes, but not really generalizable IMO.

Sometimes such results get trotted out as evidence that a '100% RE future is possible, see, Denmark is doing it today!!'. For that, its more than a bit misleading. They are as a country using the 'grid battery' of their larger neighbors, as described in the article. Similarly, sometimes folks point at Iowa and talk about their RE penetration figure...the problem, there is not one grid for just Iowa.

The two grids with the highest wind/solar penetration right now are the California and Texas grids. They are neck and neck, IIRC, with Texas currently ahead, and CA gaining fast. I suppose I am ignoring tiny HI.

Of course, these examples/stories DO definitely make a great point about costs....we don't have stories about how the Danes are bankrupt after spending all their tax monies on wind farms that don't work. Instead, life goes on, with a little less CO2 emission per capita.

 

[begreen]

Agreed. The story is more about a nation making the best use of resources on hand and forging forward toward a low emissions goal. Different countries and terrain will need different solutions. I like that multiple nations are cooperating here with a smart grid that can absorb the excesses.

 

[iamlucky13]

The two grids with the highest wind/solar penetration right now are the California and Texas grids. They are neck and neck, IIRC, with Texas currently ahead, and CA gaining fast. I suppose I am ignoring tiny HI.

Texas is ahead in wind. California is ahead in solar. Last year California installed enough solar to take the lead in the combined total for the first time, not accounting for capacity factor.

Hawaii, unfortunately, is nowhere close because they're held back in how much non-schedulable supply they can absorb by their highly fragmented power grid and low grid capacity. Several islands are actually having to restrict new residential solar installations to prevent the mid-day production from exceeding the capacity of the powerlines to redistribute what doesn't get used. They're working on upgrades, but it's not cheap, and they'll still be stuck with the fragmented grid.

Texas - Wind: 14,208 MW + Solar: 330 MW = 14,538 MW combined
California - Wind: 5,914 MW + Solar: 9,977 MW = 15,891 MW combined.
Hawaii - Wind: 206 MW + Solar: 447 MW = 653 MW

Data sources:
http://www.awea.org/resources/statefactsheets.aspx?itemnumber=890
http://www.seia.org/research-resources/2014-top-10-solar-states

 

[woodgeek]

NIce Iam, but I was thinking kWh percentage of iso-grid basis....