As we keep pointing out here and elsewhere, intermittent sources of energy, especially wind and solar power, are an expensive grid-destabilizing disaster in the making for the simple reason that such sources are . . . intermittent. How hard is this to grasp? Apparently very hard for sun-worshipping, wind-breaking environmentalists.
Most readers will be familiar with the meme from The Princess Bride about “I don’t think that word means what you think it means.” The chart immediately below, from the renewable-loving, nuclear-hating Rocky Mountain Institute is quite startling for demonstrating the defect of intermittent power sources, as it shows how much more intermittent capacity you need to build to replace sources like coal and gas that can run more or less 24/7. (And the real kicker here in this projection is that new gas-fired power is projected to replace coal, which means the intermittent sources are clearly marginal.)
Get ready for your electricity rates to soar under this scenario. Look no further then Europe to see how this works out in practice:
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