Green electricity excess - a nice problem to have?

The summer may be behind us now, but in search of sunny news to distract me from the rain outside my window I found this!

Spain has found itself in an unexpected position: The country's ambitious renewable energy initiatives have  led to a surplus of power! The country has significantly expanded its solar and wind capacity, driven by a combination of government policies, technological advancements, and favorable geographic conditions. However, the rapid growth of renewable energy has created a unique challenge. During periods of high wind and solar production, Spain's grid becomes overloaded. This excess power can't be absorbed by domestic consumption, and it is far from straightforward to simply export it to neighboring countries. As a result, renewable energy producers are forced to “turn down” their operations, leading to reduced financial benefits.

Clearly it is necessary to co-develop alongside solar and wind technologies the additional equipment needed to store these excesses. That is to allow the peak production times to compensate for the periods of lower production. Can we expect new large-scale energy storage systems, such as batteries or pumped hydro? I am anticipating that a conversion to hydrogen and its derivatives will also be part of this solution - helping to store that excess power for later use, and even, in theory, benefitting from “free electricity”, thus reducing the overall cost of hydrogen production - the excess would otherwise be being wasted through the "turn down". 

Further modernizing the  grid to improve its capacity and flexibility is also essential. Perhaps enabling a greater roll-out of localised storage - in cars and home batteries, can help distribute excesses as well?

Finding and resourcing effective solutions to manage the surplus will be crucial for ensuring the continued growth of renewable energy wherever you are. Certainly having a surplus is better than needing to plug the shortfall with non-renewables!

#Renewables #solar #hydrogen