From FB comment re: Headwind”21 movie
Alexander Pohl
Said, “where does electricity come from when the wind doesn’t blow? They are building 100% standby gas for … wind…”
No, they are not!! The gas turbine peaker plants are being replaced with BESS – battery energy storage systems. Search for Moss Landing BESS for an example. There is another being built a few miles from where I live. And many more.
Tesla has orders for 80 thousand Megapacks to replace gas peaker plants! So *YOU* have a look!
You say “they are lying to us…” No, *you* are lying to us. There are offshore wind turbines which generate 24 hours, 365 days a year. I can’t speak for the wind farm in the movie, but the sites for wind farms are chosen for best wind and power yield.
You said, “…intermittent Renewables even with batteries isn’t going to save us…”
That’s fearmongering.
The transition to intermittent renewables will require some form of storage. The BESSs from Tesla and many other makers will have a major part in the early transition. Once the installed renewables have capacities of 3 or more times the total load, the excess electricity will be used to generate hydrogen, which will then be used for backup and to replace gray hydrogen in industry. The system will then be less dependent on the BESSs. Hydrogen will be stored where natural gas is now being stored, in underground salt caverns.
You can go to caiso.com any time and see that at mid-day the electric grid in California may have over 50% of the power being supplied by renewables. The gas turbine generating plants have been operating at or below 25% capacity and the utilities can’t afford to keep them operating – they’re losing money. So the utilities are replacing them with renewables plus storage.