How South Australia can function reliably while moving to 100% renewable power

Despite the criticism levelled at South Australia over its renewable energy ambitions, the state is nevertheless aiming to be carbon neutral by mid-century, which will mean moving to 100% renewable electricity over the next 15-20 years.

How South Australia can be
carbon neutral by mid-century.

The biggest challenge will be meeting the 2-3 hours of peak demand during the evenings, when wind generation happens to be low. This will require a mix of different technologies and strategies, including solar, wind, storage, and possibly a new interconnector to New South Wales.

The issue is the variable nature of some renewable energy technologies – wind turbines only generate electricity when there’s sufficient wind, solar panels when the sun shines. But peaks in demand occasionally coincide with periods of low renewable generation, as was the case during the heatwave a few weeks ago. Although sufficient gas-fired generated capacity existed to pick up the slack, it was not all available at the time and short, localised blackouts were implemented.

Read the story by the Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales, Mark Diesendorf, on The Conversation - “How South Australia can function reliably while moving to 100% renewable power.”