CEO of Australian Electricity Market Operator (AEMO) made an interesting comment in a webinar…
“From base load and peaking it’s a shift to renewables and firming”!!
So, it’s like a simpler equation of
Base load plant + peaking plant = load
has now transformed into
Renewable + firming (gas or coal or battery storage or PHP or DER’s or DR or CER’s or even VPP’s, some tried and tested, some still in pilots, some still in concepts) = load
See the difference
— One, with first being load centered, which it has to be and second setup more like renewable centered because with tariff and non-tariff efforts we are also trying to change the load shape from what it is (even heard of a suggestion from German Industry minister urging industry to align their operations to renewable availability!!)
— Second, difference in enabling technologies and desired market setup between the two and complexities that this change has created to be handled by power engineers and energy economists (hopefully sticking to their areas)!!
Suddenly for past few decades the slow-moving giant of electrical power systems is trying to cope with agility that has been thrown at it. Do you see the kind of opportunities it has thrown at the businesses with challenges to be solved, this shift from base load and peaking to renewable and firming??
But fundamentally, nothing much has changed at the consumer end, they still want reliable and affordable supply, which is “aimed to be” more sustainable also now, at what cost, is still evolving!!
That’s the interesting and yet unfolding story of “Electrical Power System Transformation”!!
© 🙂
#electricalgrid #powersystems #renewableenergy #fossilplants #energytransition #gridtransformation #electricitynetwork #AEMO
