The recent power outage in Spain and Portugal might indicate what is in store for Alaska if we continue adding renewable energy sources to our electrical grid.
A massive power outage struck the Iberian Peninsula on Monday, halting all electrical power to both countries. It took almost 24 hours to restore power completely. When questioned about the reasons for the outage, a spokesperson for Spain’s electrical utility, Red Electrica de España (REE), had to resort to buzzwords to describe the failure. He used phrases like it was due to a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” and “the outage is exceptional and totally extraordinary.”
While the actual cause of the incident won’t be known until an investigation report is released, some significant facts point to system instability due to the country’s reliance on a high percentage of renewable energy as the probable cause. Spain has made a massive investment in renewables such as wind and solar power, and just six days before the outage, REE announced that the country was operating entirely on renewable power for the first time. One problem with this kind of energy source is that it has less of what electrical engineers call “rotational inertia,” making it vulnerable to system instability.
When we maximize the use of hydro power and take full advantage of our abundant natural gas, Alaska’s energy problems will be solved. Reliance on renewables is a pipe dream.
The term might sound confusing, but it isn’t really. Think of it this way: If you need to pull your boat trailer up the ramp at the dock, when you press on the gas, the engine may lug down a bit, but the engine keeps spinning, and your vehicle can pull the trailer up the ramp. The torque from the truck engine is due to rotational inertia, which allows it to overcome an applied load.
The same is true on a larger scale for conventional power systems. When large hydroelectric turbines provide power at dams like Alaska’s Bradley Lake power system, those turbines have rotational inertia. The same is true for the large gas turbines that power the generators used by Chugach Electric up in Anchorage. These large, massive rotating turbines are all connected to the Alaska Railbelt electrical grid. They have rotational inertia and provide stability to the grid, preventing electrical blackouts.
When countries eliminate conventional energy sources and replace them with renewable ones, they lose rotational inertia. One electrical engineer in Spain commented, “The enormous concentration of renewable energy in the Aragon-Catalonia part of Spain made the system unstable because of its lack of electrical inertia. The electronic inverters used with renewable energy, which are supposed to synchronize current, can sometimes be amplified between them if a small voltage alteration occurs, causing widespread oscillations.” He further commented, “The lack of physical inertia reserves from large rotation masses used in thermal power plants or hydroelectric plants prevents damping when there are disturbances.”
This phenomenon is not new. It is well understood by electrical engineers. In a paper published in the journal Applied Energy in 2020, an engineer warned that the low inertia in renewable energy systems could cause instability in electrical systems, preventing the 100% penetration of this type of this energy solution.
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Engineers have known for at least five years that renewables have problems that prevent their complete adoption. An overreliance on renewable energy likely caused the blackout in Spain. Yet, the green energy proponents here in Alaska want to continue adding renewable energy sources to our electrical grid.
Renewable energy sources like wind and solar with battery backup might work nicely to power a remote cabin located off the electrical grid, but they are not the solution for Alaska’s energy Railbelt intertie that provides power to most residents in our state. An over-reliance on renewable energy sources, as Spain has done, will lead to a less stable electrical system and more power outages. We need to forget about the green energy boondoggles like massive solar farms that the green energy zealots want to force on us. Alaska needs reliable sources of electricity. When we maximize the use of hydro power and take full advantage of our abundant natural gas, Alaska’s energy problems will be solved. Reliance on renewables is a pipe dream.
Like the tale from Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses’ crew tied him to the mast of his ship to prevent him from steering it onto the rocks when the sirens lured him, Alaska must also avoid the sweet temptations of the green energy sirens.
The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.
14 Comments
“……..When we maximize the use of hydro power and take full advantage of our abundant natural gas, Alaska’s energy problems will be solved. Reliance on renewables is a pipe dream……….”
The “pipe dream” is trying satisfying the morons killing us in every way, including energy. Hydro IS “renewable”, but the Antis are forcing society to dismantle dams willy-nilly, even in regions that also need the water. We saw that right here in Anchorage with the Eklutna system.
Until society grows the courage to simply tell these people to sit down and STFU, our problems will continue to grow.
How many people can read and UNDERSTAND this article? That is the first problem. Pipe dreams are great. Only half of the people can’t see far enough down the road to see it won’t work, pit falls of it! This causes hundreds of millions of dollars to be wasted and no benefit. Example the bridge to nowhere!
I say Drill Baby Drill
The Native corporation that owns fire island. Wanted to put up more windmills and sell the power to Chugach Electric. Chugach said we’re not going buy your power. Because we can use natural gas and it’s cheaper. I’m so glad they didn’t install more windmills, they’re ugly and useless, plus I hate looking at them across the inlet.
Another Native Corporation near Healy put up 12 windmills one more then fire island. To claim their the largest windmill farm in Alaska.
It wasn’t producing enough so what did they do? They fired back up the Healy Coal fired plant to make electricity. Funny how that works.
The author is right. It takes many sources to make a successful power grid. Those that don’t want hydro power are missing out on a great source of clean energy. But along with hydro power, you also need natural gas and other sources as well so the grid doesn’t go down. Those that have consistently promoted solar and wind power are ignoring the periodic down times and the fact that battery development has not kept pace. So why do they keep pushing this travesty?
ASK DUNLEAVY!
In my lifetime alone the human population has risen from three billion to EIGHT billion, with governments around the world striving to lift huge numbers of people out of poverty. People need to be clothed, housed, fed, educated, employed, and have their health and sanitary needs taken care of. All this requires SPACE and ENERGY. The growing need for data centers is only increasing this urgent need for more SPACE and ENERGY. We simply cannot keep all our energy needs in one fossil fuels basket. If you think we can continue pumping carbon into the sky, FOREVER, and everything will be hunky dory, you haven’t been paying attention.
And plants feed on what?
Do more research.
TIM: You can’t see the forest for the trees. Yes, plants absorb CO2. For that reason we should be REFORESTING the planet wherever we can, but you know that ain’t happening. Two things we know: Increasing CO2 and CH4 in the atmosphere is warming the planet, and for every degree celsius the atmosphere warms, it is able to hold 7% more moisture. These are not political opinions, they are scientific facts. And given that the atmosphere has warmed 1.75 degrees celsius during the Industrial Age, we can conclude that the atmosphere is holding at least 10% more moisture. We have no frame of reference for how these increases are affecting weather patterns, and computer models can only tell us so much, but the impact is increasingly obvious and accelerating.
I am in favor of government defunding unnecessary DEI programs and redirecting that money into installing solar panels onto everyone’s homes.
Solving the energy issue helps everyone.
Social engineering programs don’t even help those they claim to be helping. Mental health crisis’ need a spiritual approach, not a government approach.
We have the solutions, implement them!
Encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion costs relatively little and hurts no one.
Sure. Just learn to do it without spending taxpayer money.
If it so important to you, spend your own money.
But don’t lie to me or yourself about it costing little. You and I both know how many millions of dollars are spent in identity politics and campaigns. Get real.
Well Gaslight, her’s a tax exempt entity that costs American taxpayers that both hurts and helps citizens and I don’t support it: religious organizations. I’d like them to pay their own way, not rely on the rest of us.
That’s easy Manny. Don’t go to church and don’t pay tithe. Simple as that.
Though I can agree with you on some of your statement. I think corrupt mega churches that have enough money for the administrators to purchase private jets and roll around in luxury cars should be looked into a bit deeper regarding their funding. Smaller churches however are community funded to help out their communities. It is the corrupt that have used this loophole to enrich themselves and that should not be allowed.
I am not a fan of more tax collection just because it is an argument against misused taxes. Government needs to learn to self fund and reduce its spending. For just like with corruption in churches, there is corruption in politicians enriching themselves. Identity politics is just a tool to keep us divided and at each other’s throats.