Yet they account for a modest percentage of the total production. This is where PowerPack and other grid storage technologies would need to come in - to counter the variability of renewable production. Pumped hydro would be cost effective per MWh stored, but there's limited chance for building that.
- Diversified renewables. Solar works on the stifling windless summer days; wind works on those nasty drifting snow winter nights.
- Dispatched demand. For example, industrial facilities can be incentified to shut down power-hungry processes on days with less available electricity, in exchange for cheaper electricity on other days.
- Of course, 'peaker' natural gas turbines. A surprising number of gas power plants are used less than 10% of the time...
In the few factories I have worked the power hungry processes cannot be stopped on demand (eg. one day notice), as it would waste products, it would mess up minimum stockpile lean manufacturing, as the process cannot be interrupted, it could often damage equipment, and usually restarting these processes is very expensive in terms of energy (eg. Reheating a kiln)
The renewables are simply not predictable enough for this, that is why nuclear, an later fusion power will have its place in the energy mix in the foreseeable future.
Long term, this becomes a matter of calculation. For some businesses its is possible and cheaper to adapt their energy consumption to the spot market prices of electricity, for others it is not, they can decide either to have some storage facilities of their own, or pay the utilities companies to provide the full load 24/7.
You're right; many of these facilities go so far as to install backup Diesel generation on-site.
There are plenty of opportunities for demand-shaving, though. The simplest one is to simply reduce the HVAC load by adjusting the thermostat.
I agree we need some nuclear, too, at least in the short term; it's not an either-or proposition. We need nuclear AND renewables AND smart grid AND storage.
The paper mill near here has one of the larger power plants (biomass, burns waste wood) in the region. It uses more power than the nearby small towns combined.
The best way to get industrial consumers to switch is to drive down costs. We're certainly nowhere near 250 Megawatt-hour batteries being cheap and commonplace, but there are projects of that scale that have been announced (in particular I'm thinking of the Vanadium flow battery being installed in China).
I've even heard of a technology for pushing compressed air in abandoned mines with surplus electricity, to be let out through turbines when there's need for power.
We do all of the above (except the compressed air thing and superconductors) here in Finland and between neighboring power grids. Of course there is room for improvement.
Variable pricing can likely do a great deal to match supply with demand without needing grid storage. Many uses of power are flexible, like charging electric cars, running the electric water heater/freezer/refrigerator, etc.
The variability needs to be very high to be an effective incentive for small power uses. If price of electricity goes from 10c/kWh to $1/kWh, it won't stop you using 1kW kettle for 5min if you want tea. And if push the price high enough to be effective, it starts hurting essential electricity users. Demand adjustment is more effective for industrial users who have beancounters.
Probably better to target excessive capacity and pay for use during overproduction. It makes grid storage and alternatives like water to hydrogen conversion profitable solutions.
>The variability needs to be very high to be an effective incentive for small power uses. If price of electricity goes from 10c/kWh to $1/kWh, it won't stop you using 1kW kettle for 5min if you want tea.
Industrial users can be persuaded to vary their usage though.
A 'smart home' could also be programmed to handle variable electricity usage - e.g. load up a washing machine ready to go and let it start running when electricity is cheapest, or electric storage heaters.
Neither of these things require any technological leaps whereas efficient, cost effective grid-level energy storage does.
It's roughly 2x more expensive on peak vs off peak in Ontario and it was enough that all my roommates would plan their dishwasher and laundry schedule around it.
