BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 23
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In most economies that have taken strong confinement measures in response to the coronavirus – and for which we have available data – electricity demand has declined by around 15 percent, largely as a result of factories and businesses halting operations, Trend reports citing the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“Some of these economies, such as Spain and California, are among those with the highest shares of wind and solar electricity generation in the world. If electricity demand falls quickly while weather conditions remain the same, the share of variable renewables like wind and solar can become higher than normal,” said the organization.
In this way, the recent drop in electricity demand fast forwarded some power systems 10 years into the future, suddenly giving them levels of wind and solar power that they wouldn’t have had otherwise without another decade of investment in renewables, said the IEA.
“This is an important moment for our understanding of cleaner electricity systems, including some of the operational challenges that policy makers and regulators need to address to ensure electricity security. With weaker electricity demand, power generation capacity is abundant. However, electricity system operators have to constantly balance demand and supply in real time. People typically think of power outages as happening when demand overwhelms supply. But in fact, some of the most high-profile blackouts in recent times took place during periods of low demand,” said the organization.
When electricity from wind and solar is satisfying the majority of demand, systems need to maintain flexibility in order to be able to ramp up other sources of generation quickly when the pattern of supply shifts, such as when the sun sets, according to IEA. “A very high share of wind and solar in a given moment also makes the maintenance of grid stability more challenging.”
“Although new forms of short-term flexibility such as battery storage are on the rise, most electricity systems rely on natural gas power plants – which can quickly ramp generation up or down at short notice – to provide flexibility, underlining the critical role of gas in clean energy transitions. Today, most gas power plants lose money if they are used only from time to time to help the system adjust to shifts in demand. The lower levels of electricity demand during the current crisis are adding to these pressures,” reads the report.
Hydropower, an often forgotten workhorse of electricity generation, remains an essential source of flexibility, according to IEA.
“Firm capacity, including nuclear power in countries that have chosen to retain it as an option, is a crucial element in ensuring a secure electricity supply. Policy makers need to design markets that reward different sources for their contributions to electricity security, which can enable them to establish viable business models. Electricity networks are the backbone of today’s power systems and they become even more important in clean energy transitions. Most wind and solar farms, and all flexible power plants, are connected to the main power grid. In both Europe and North America, these grids rely on aging transmission lines to get the electricity to different regions. Significant investments in these networks will be essential in the coming years.”
Wind and solar can also provide flexibility, and systems will increasingly rely on them to do so, said IEA.
“Wind power can be gradually ramped down when demand drops late at night. Some solar power can be shut off at noon when there is more than needed. In time, electricity generation from renewables may no longer simply follow the weather but will have to be managed in an intelligent way in order to reduce costs and improve electricity security.”
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