Joat42 wrote:The energy production in Norway is 98-99% hydroelectric and as far as I know they haven't had problems with brownouts - especially considering that their energy grid has very good interconnections with the other Scandinavian countries and the European continent. They are currently ramping up energy production from other renewable sources as wind and solar though in an attempt to diversify.
Hmm. Maybe it was Denmark after all. I remember seeing an article a few years ago about a North European country — I was sure it was Norway — having trouble managing their electrical load because they were getting over 40% of it from wind and solar power, mostly wind. All those 400-foot windmills out in the North Sea.
Why do they only put 3 skinny little blades on those things, anyway? I'd think 7 blades would provide substantially more torque for the same fan diameter, producing more power for very little increased cost.
It takes baseline generation to power a city, or a country. Steady, reliable, controllable sources. Hydroelectric power is reliable, and simple to control by just turning a valve. Yeah, I know there's more to it than that; it's simple, not easy. But there are only so many rivers, and so many canyons or valleys you can dam up. We've already dammed up most of them.
Intermittent sources like wind and solar can only be supplemental power, not baseline. Counting on them for more than 40% will give you those stability problems.