The Alternative Green Energy Thread

silverwhistle

NedS said:

Nuclear has the advantage in that it is always available (always on),

Except when it is down for planned maintenance and re-fuelling or when they go down in an unplanned way, which seems to happen remarkably frequently, particularly with the older ones. e.g:

So you need contingency for all sorts of generation methods!

JKenH

Miliband rejects £25bn plan to power Britain with Saharan solar farms

Ed Miliband has turned down a scheme to import solar and wind power from Morocco via 2,500-mile-long subsea cables.

Xlinks had asked for a contract for difference, which would effectively guarantee a minimum price for its power for up to 25 years. Mr Miliband is understood to instead want to focus on “homegrown” energy projects.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/06/26/miliband-rejects-plans-25bn-energy-cable-sahara-solar-farms/

JKenH

It’s not often I find myself publishing CleanTechnica articles but this one makes a lot of sense. 

Clean Energy Experts Say It’s Time To Move Beyond LCOE

Variable renewables like wind and solar may have the lowest LCOEs, but their output is intermittent. That leads to curtailment, storage costs, and reliability challenges — costs that LCOE simply doesn’t capture. For example, solar paired with battery storage may still show a low LCOE on paper, but system-wide modeling often reveals much higher real costs due to the need for grid upgrades and ancillary services.

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/06/27/clean-energy-experts-say-its-time-to-move-beyond-lcoe/

Netexporter

Still quicker and cheaper than nuclear and the grid requires upgrading whatever the source of power.

JKenH

Renewable electricity generation dropped 4.9 percentage points to 46.3

per cent of total generation in the first quarter of 2025, as near record low

wind speeds for the quarter led to a 13 per cent drop in wind generation. Wind

generation provided 28.5 per cent of the total generation, short of the 38.1 per

cent provided by gas. The increase in gas generation reflected low wind

speeds and the result of a drop in net imports of electricity.

Renewable generation capacity increased by 6 per cent on the same period

last year, slightly below the average growth rate of the last three years.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685bda130433072fce0e0fe1/Energy_Trends_June_2025.pdf

QrizB

There was definitely a lack of wind in the first quarter. One of the Ripple / Kirk Hill emails said we'd fallen below the P90 figure for part of that period. (P90 is the output that you would expect to achieve or exceed 90% of the time, so not achieving the P90 figure means it was in the worst 10% of forecast years.)

Netexporter

Will this dunkelflaute never end!

The cry of Agile users last winter.

NedS

QrizB said:

There was definitely a lack of wind in the first quarter. One of the Ripple / Kirk Hill emails said we'd fallen below the P90 figure for part of that period. (P90 is the output that you would expect to achieve or exceed 90% of the time, so not achieving the P90 figure means it was in the worst 10% of forecast years.)

Similarly, my investment in UK Wind (UKW), who own and operate 2GW of generating capacity, reported generation of 5.5TWh, 13% below budget in 2024 due to low wind. At least solar irradiation levels have been strong this spring so it might at least be a good year for my solar funds (and my own solar production).

https://www.greencoat-ukwind.com/application/files/9217/4532/0622/gukw-annual-report-2024.pdf

JKenH

Ok, so I am probably a decade behind most people when it comes to using AI but I thought I would give Chat GPT a go. I asked the following question:

Is it feasible for the UK’s Electricity supply to come entirely from renewable energy?

I received a long answer but it was summarised by Chat GPT as follows:

Yes, 100% renewable electricity for the UK is technically and economically feasible, particularly by the 2035–2050 timeframe. It will take:

• A diversified renewable portfolio (wind, solar, tidal, biomass, etc.)
• Deep investments in storage and grid upgrades
• Strong government policy support and long-term planning

However, 100% renewable energy (including heating, transport, industry) is a much harder goal and would require even more drastic transformations.

I am cynical (no mention of inertia etc) but having asked my 7 year old grandson if he uses ChatGPT (yes, he used it to learn how to play chess) I am concerned that a whole new generation will grow up believing everything it says and policy will be guided by the most dominant perspectives aired on the internet. 

JKenH

We’ve sacrificed our traditional industries on the altar of Net Zero only to replace them with something more palatable to progressive classes that still  generates huge amounts of CO2.

The English town where net zero is in reverse

North East pollution is plunging but it’s a different story in the South’s ‘data centre alley’

Slough has emerged as Britain’s fastest-growing pollution hotspot, with its surging data centre industry driving up greenhouse gas emissions.

The southern town’s concentration of more than 30 massive data centres has pushed up commercial emissions by 52pc since 2005 – making it the only place in the UK to see such a rapid rise in pollution.

Slough’s total emissions equate to five tonnes of CO2 for each of its citizens – far above the three tonnes per person seen in traditional industrial areas such as South Tyneside, the 3.7 tonnes recorded in Newcastle upon Tyne and the four tonnes recorded in Sunderland.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/07/05/southern-town-overtaking-industrial-north-polluting-hotspot/