Thread: Big storm and no power in SA

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Reality is renewables are here to stay

Yes they are.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

and they didn't cause the SA shutdown.

Yes they did. They tripped out unexpectedly.
Read the report.
When the HV transmission lines came down, alternate paths were used on the transmission network to transmit energy.
When the wind farms tripped out, excessive demand was put on the interconnector. That then tripped out. The thermal generation system was operating at a very low supply level and couldn't respond quickly to the demand and the network collapsed.
Again, read the report.

Plenty of renewables blowing around up here today... 33c and blowing its backside off

Less than half here are running. The rest are parked.

Siemens spokesperson is in the news today, quoted as saying gas plant would have tripped also if it had been in the location of the wind farms. Seems to be saying proximity to point of initial failure is a major factor in shut down, not energy source itself.

I am aware turbines will park once wind gets too strong, but frequency / voltage management across the network is not my field.

So in a Utopian world with Solar, Wind, Tidal and batteries, but no big kick arse fossil turbines and minimal hydro, being where we are, how will the network be synchronized, so we get a nice clean power feed ?

Originally Posted by AndyG

So in a Utopian world with Solar, Wind, Tidal and batteries, but no big kick arse fossil turbines and minimal hydro, being where we are, how will the network be synchronized, so we get a nice clean power feed ?

Calibrated Hamster wheel

...and it's going to become interesting if Hazelwood closes next year......

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Everything I said appears correct, from various sources.
Anyway, this is a pointless argument. Reality is renewables are here to stay and they didn't cause the SA shutdown, the storm did.

What are your sources?

The guys that have replied, are quote obviously within the field, somewhere along the lines, no biases towards we must keep fossil fuel, just pragmatic points of view, with an understanding of various levels of the technical aspect

Its not pointless, renewables are certainly here to stay, but simply trying to power on with renewables, without an alternative to baseload generation, will often.....leave us in the dark