The energy transition continues: Alberta issues second electrical grid alert in two days. Texas also issued a grid alert on the same day. Funny, that. The two most energy-rich jurisdictions in the hemisphere, and perhaps the planet, are struggling to keep the lights on. Again.
Oh, and Texans have been warned: expect the same on Wednesday.
Why do I keep writing about this? Because people need it beat into their heads “The emperor has no clothes!”
The contrast between AESO and ERCOT twitter replies couldn’t be more stark. Texans have had quite enough of the green energy b.s. and are taking ERCOT executives to task while Canadians are the usual gooey and dutiful “I will do as you’ve instructed immediately” and “thanks for the great work you do”. A little bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea.
Carry on.
And I believe the ERCOT fiasco is precisely the reason why Smith has put the 6 month moratorium on wind and solar in place. Hopefully Smith will come to the conclusion that it makes no sense to put the lives of people at risk for the ideological delusions of lunatics.
Yes, I think so too. People think of wind and solar as free power on windy and sunny days without looking at the unseen consequences for essential baseload and backup generation.
Excess wind and solar power drive down the cost of electricity and displaces other generation which sounds good but creates a disincentive to build reliable, dispatchable baseload and peaker plants. Less baseload and peaker plants means the electricity grid is more vulnerable during times of peak usage and low nature-based renewable power production. Wind and solar require 100% backup by reliable baseload and peaker plants to keep the grid stable.
So, too much wind and solar creates a viscous scenario of intermittent power that randomly fluctuates prices up and down and not enough investment in reliable baseload and peaker plants because of the reduced profitability. The more wind and solar you add to the system, the bigger this problem becomes.
Well actually wind and solar drive UP the cost of electricity because, as you say, the cost of base power backup and grid changes is hidden.
I don’t remember the exact numbers but an electricity system with 10% installed capacity of wind and solar starts to have problems and at 20% the electricity grid has great difficulty with grid stability and cost control.
Electricity grids and electricity systems perform the best and most efficiently with steady state operation. Solar and wind makes steady state operation impossible.
Smith should realise the the death cult is already organising local campaigns in every community to try and force pressure on politicians to back down on the moratorium. The death cult has a lot of funding, a lot. They intend to use that for various town halls, organisation, campaign contributions at every level. It is already going and they are organising for more. They are targeting not just MLAs, but also town councils, RMs, etc. They want smaller communities to pass more green resolution and have local protests.
SDAers should take note, whenever they see such a campaign – try to find out who is organising it specifically, keep reporters like Zinchuk aware and make sure that you let your politicians know that you support Smith. The allan inquiry showed how much funding these groups get, they haven’t gone away – they are bigger now than before.
Think it’s bad now? Wait till the EVs arrive in numbers.
I wonder if the people will ever wake the hell up.
Serious question here… Honestly not trying to bait. I have just been told how dumb it is that there are grid alerts and the pause on more renewables has been put on.
I haven’t got the background info on the issue, so I would like to know the accurate response to that. With the “investment” in wind and solar, has there been a reduction in capacity of FF generation. Have facilities been taken off line cutting capacity to the point where it is marginal for demand? Or has there been cancellation of deployment of FF generation in favour of renewables. If so, at what comparative cost?
Just looking for quick answers as I don’t like to misstate facts and then look bad.
Not sure there is an easy or quick answer because there are so many variables to consider. Alberta seems to have a complicated electricity trading system. Environmental activists use data that tells the story they want to hear so any data you provide will be ignored. It’s like arguing with a hamster.
I usually just point to Ontario or California or Germany, who all went full bore into renewables…and ask them if that looks like success.
Alberta has converted a number of its coal plants to natural gas, and shut down the rest. There is only one coal plant left, and it will be converted to natural gas.
The key here is the loss of large amounts of baseload coal without replacement. And here were are – frequent grid alerts, because the thousands of megawatts of wind built doesn’t work when the wind doesn’t blow, and the earth insists on rotating about its axis every night.
That was my understanding, but was not sure.
Among many topics needing to be properly researched in retirement!
I wonder how much dumber the populace can get.
You need to find a young aspiring journalist named Ian Curtis, and make him your Rolling Blackout correspondent. Yes, it’s in bad taste, but it’s irresistible, isn’t it?
Insulting someone presenting reality is like getting angry at your mirror because you’re ugly.
Now put down that rock and deal with it, Skannk with 2 nn’s.
If somebody with a box of matches insists on trying to start a fire by rubbing two sticks, I’m not sympathetic if they freeze to death.
If somebody(s) responsible for thousands or millions to keep from freezing, and they pull out the ‘sticks’, they need to be flogged in the public square.
There can be no forgiveness.
smith stated
“”One of the things I’m disappointed by that I haven’t seen the media cover is that we were asked to do this by our regulators,” she said. “We made the letters available to every member of the media on this … the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) asked for us to do a pause to make sure that we could address issues of stability of the grid. The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) asked us to do a pause while we figured out how we could deal with end of life reclamation.”
How about saying that “wind and solar appear not to provide the consistent on demand power that our modern world requires? We are going to assess the viability of these projects before approving any more.”
And her moratorium was only on large projects – not all.
“How about saying that “wind and solar appear not to provide the consistent on demand power that our modern world requires?”
Too concise. Too precise. Too honest.
Hey, Jenn, notice these rolling blackout notices keep happening again and again and again? Obviously we need more windmills & solar panels!
Good to see so many comments on this issue. I bet that Parker Gallant could rip apart the economics of the Alberta wind and solar, just like he has for the “Green” energy disaster in Ontario.
Nukes. Now.
Sask has all the uranium needed. Build a joint processing plant and a Small Nuclear Reactor factory and refueling depot.
Put a couple at the oil sands and have the cleanest oil in the world.
Tell the feds to piss up a rope.
“How about saying that “wind and solar appear not to provide the consistent on demand power that our modern world requires?”
Too concise. Too precise. Too honest.