Classical economics supposes that there is always a market-clearing price for every commodity, under very general assumptions that turn out not to hold for variable sources of electricity, such as wind and solar when grid and storage capacity are exceeded. When production exceeds demand, the excess can be spilled, that is, wasted entirely, or suppliers can pay users to take the excess. Spillage also occurs in hydropower when reservoirs are overfull.
Rising frequency of negative electricity prices signals the urgent need to increase system flexibility
There has been a significant increase in 2024 in the frequency of negative wholesale price events in numerous power markets. In the first half of the year, the share of negatively priced hours in Southern California was above 20%, more than tripling from a year before. In some markets, such as South Australia, prices have been negative for about 20% of the time since 2023. Negative prices occur because generation is not flexible enough due to technical, economic, contractual or regulatory reasons. They indicate that the demand side is not sufficiently responsive to prices and that there is not enough storage available. Rising frequency of negative prices sends an urgent signal that greater flexibility of supply and demand is needed. The appropriate regulatory frameworks and market designs will be important to allow for an uptake in flexibility solutions such as demand response and storage.
Translated from bureaucratic bafflegab, that means permitting and building more grid interconnections, including long-distance HVDC power lines, and more storage, which could be pumped hydro, but is more likely to mean battery banks.
We know the solutions. You can help sweep obstacles out of the way at so many levels.
Renewables
Courtyard by Marriott Lancaster: The First 100% Solar-powered Marriott Hotel in U.S.
At 133 rooms, the Courtyard by Marriott-Lancaster [PA] at 1931 Hospitality Drive is the first Marriott-branded hotel in the United States with 100 percent of its electricity needs generated from solar power. It is also believed to be the first solar array in the country installed for the sole purpose of generating 100 percent of the electricity needs of a hotel.
The Marriott has installed a solar power system that creates about 1,239,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity every year, while the hotel uses only about 1,177,000 kilowatt-hours. The excess power becomes an asset that High sells to the local utility.
Producing this much electricity requires a lot of solar panels and a lot of space, whether on a roof or on the ground. The Marriott’s solar array of 2,700 panels is more than two football fields in size, which is too big for the roof of the hotel. So High placed the system on the roof of a warehouse near the hotel within Greenfield. To enable hotel guests to see how much power the system is producing in real time, High installed a meter in the hotel lobby.
OK, but what about solar panels over the parking lot, for both electricity and shade?
1 Installed capacity of China’s clean energy generation exceeded 1.57bn kilowatts in 2023, surpassing coal for the first time in history
2 Italy's renewable power output overtakes fossil fuels for 1st time
3 China's June thermal power down 7.4% while wind and solar up by 12.7% and 18.1%
4 93% of new steelmaking capacity announced in 2024 to use lower emission electric arc furnaces
5 Amazon deforestation cut by 83% in places protected by Indigenous communities
6 UK close to 1 million electric car chargers
7 UK Science Museum ends sponsorship deal with oil company Equinor
…
1 UK lifts ban on new onshore windfarms
2 UK unveils plans for rooftop revolution
3 US in $1.7b boost for EV manufacturing
4 Marathon Oil to pay record fine for oil & gas pollution
5 China pauses new coal-based steelmaking
6 China clean energy pushes coal to record-low share of power in May 2024
7 UK approves 3 massive solar farms
8 BP in $2b stranded oil refinery impairment
9 GHG emissions in Ireland lowest in 30 years
10 South Africa to accelerate shift to renewables
11 Deforestation in Colombia falls to historic lows
Storage
EVs and Chargers
That’s the definition of exponential growth. The growth rate increases as fast as the market share.
Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in the U.S.
64% of Americans live within 2 miles of a public charging station, and those who live closest to chargers view EVs more positively.
The number of EV charging stations has more than doubled since 2020. In December 2020, the Department of Energy reported that there were nearly 29,000 public charging stations nationwide. By February 2024, that number had increased to more than 61,000 stations. Over 95% of the American public now lives in a county that has at least one public EV charging station.
Since the IRA’s tax credits became active, the number of EV charging stations nationwide has increased 29%. But rural parts of the U.S. have a slightly faster growth rate in their total number of charging stations when compared with urban areas (34% vs. 29%).2 Even so, access to public EV charging remains heavily concentrated in urban areas, which account for nearly 90% of all stations in the U.S. as of Feb. 27, 2024.
Bicycles
Making cities bicycle-friendly for shopping, commuting, and more reduces the need for cars of any kind, ICE or electric.
Sharrow, shared lane marker
Agriculture
Industry
Countries and Regions
Denial
Renewable Tuesday vs. Project 2025 Ultra-Denial
TL;DR
Under the next President, the Department of Energy should end the Biden Administration’s unprovoked war on fossil fuels, restore America’s energy independence, oppose eyesore windmills built at taxpayer expense, and respect the right of Americans to buy and drive cars of their own choosing, rather than trying to force them into electric vehicles.
How dare you offer us ways to save us money, our health, and the planet?!? /s
From DK
Meteor Blades
Earth Matters: Big Oil still working diligently to sabotage renewables; critics prematurely bury EVs
Me
Renewable Friday: US has Negative Change in Fossil Fuels
