Wind beat gas, in EU electricity 2023!
Next up:
Solar beats coal, this year or next.
And:
Wind+solar beat coal+gas, this year already?! #renewables#electricity#energytransition
Hold on a sec, weren't we all told that privatisation would lead to cheaper electricity prices?
Weren't we told that repealing the carbon tax would lead to cheaper electricity prices?
Weren't we told that sticking with (more expensive) coal and gas power over (cheaper) renewables and storage would lead to cheaper electricity prices?
From the ABC:
"At the heart of the price gouging inquiry, initiated by the ACTU and led by Allan Fels, is determining in a high inflation environment what's general inflation and what else might be influencing pricing behaviour, the main offending price gouging industries, how they do it and how it impacts everyday Australians.
"Part of the problem is Australia is awash with oligopolies, which means there isn't as much price competition as there might otherwise be, which helps explain why real wage growth has been low and why the real prices of so many goods are so high.
"And while most of the media attention has been on Coles and Woolworths, the report will include other sectors accused of customer gouging and breaching trust such as energy, airlines and banks.
"Sydney University professor Lynne Chester, from the school of social and political sciences, supplied the inquiry with a detailed submission ... [which] said electricity prices have been escalating since 2005, largely due to increases in the charges paid for the generation of electricity. She said the charge for electricity makes up a significant component of the electricity price paid for by consumers.
"A key issue was that the regulation was designed for a competitive market, assuming competition would deliver lower prices, but the market was never competitive due to the presence of big powerful generator companies that have been merging with retail companies to create giants such as AGL, Origin and Energy Australia."
#AI#DataCenters#Electricity#Energy: "This is how it is in much of the US, where electric utilities and regulators have been caught off guard by the biggest jump in demand in a generation. One of the things they didn’t properly plan for is AI, an immensely power-hungry technology that uses specialized microchips to process mountains of data. Electricity consumption at US data centers alone is poised to triple from 2022 levels, to as much as 390 terawatt hours by the end of the decade, according to Boston Consulting Group. That’s equal to about 7.5% of the nation’s projected electricity demand. “We do need way more energy in the world than we thought we needed before,” Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, whose ChatGPT tool has become a global phenomenon, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week. “We still don’t appreciate the energy needs of this technology.”
For decades, US electricity demand rose by less than 1% annually. But utilities and grid operators have doubled their annual forecasts for the next five years to about 1.5%, according to Grid Strategies, a consulting firm that based its analysis on regulatory filings. That’s the highest since the 1990s, before the US stepped up efforts to make homes and businesses more energy efficient."
From Audel’s Handy Book of Practical Electricity: An automatic power factor regulation controller for a synchronous condenser. A synchronous condenser is a big synchronous motor that has no load attached to it. It can generate reactive power. #electricity#electricalengineering#audel
#Quebec is looking to reactivate #Gentilly2, the only #nuclear power plant here, which was closed in 2012, in order to meet electric power demand with #Canada phasing out gas-powered cars by 2035. Reactivation of Gentilly-2 is said to be for 2036.
This is shocking and incredibly sad. I can't even begin to comprehend why they would go to this level. It's been more than 10 yrs since it’s decommission, the 800-staff have moved on or retired. They won't find enough ppl to run this thing.
Also, the location of Gentilly-2 is right inbetween Montreal & Quebec City, a 2hr drive, right across from Trois-Rivières, and right on the St-Lawrence river. I have MAJOR concerns of a nuclear meltdown. Have you guys seen the control room?? The nuclear plant was built in 1973, its lifespan is spent. An absolute waste of time and money.
Fully decommissioning Gentilly-2 was also said to take about 50 yrs. How are you going to reverse this process? Even Martine Ouellette, who was the Minister of Natural Resources at the time of the decommissioning, was told that the process was irreversible. So she rightfully questions, was she lied to? And if not, then what is the current CEO of Hydro-Quebec doing in wasting money in this study if it's irreversible?
How Georgia’s Small Power Companies Endanger Their Most Vulnerable Customers
The state’s small #electricity providers aren’t required to delay disconnecting seriously ill customers who depend on medical devices, putting lives at risk.
I’d like to dive into all the old electrical systems and standards that ended up being “evolutionary cul-de-sacs” that were replaced or didn’t even take off. (Like the original 25Hz power systems used around Niagara Falls and Buffalo.) I’d especially be interested in “failed from the get go” systems that nobody knows about.
#DataCenters#Cloud#Energy#Electricity#AI#Cryptocurrencies: "Global electricity demand from data centers, cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence could more than double over the next three years, adding the equivalent of Germany’s entire power needs, the International Energy Agency forecasts in its latest report.
There are more than 8,000 data centers globally, with about 33% in the US, 16% in Europe and close to 10% in China, with more planned. In Ireland, where data centers are developing rapidly, the IEA expects the sector to consume 32% of the country’s total electricity by 2026 compared to 17% in 2022. Ireland currently has 82 centers; 14 are under construction and 40 more are approved.
Overall global electricity demand is expected to see a 3.4% increase until 2026, the report found. The increase, however, will be more than covered by renewables, such as wind, solar and hydro, and all-time high nuclear power."