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50 sats \ 1 reply \ @EthnTuttle 16 Oct 2023 \ parent \ on: Intercontinental energy grids. 🌎←♻️→🌍 bitcoin
Thanks for the insights. I can definitely see how pipe vs wires is a tradeoff you'd want. Even personally, I'd prefer a wire issue at the house over a plumbing issue.
I do want to play devil's advocate here. You also can't turn on sun or wind (earth's core is always on) so how does reliability factor into this? the current grids have to maintain a steady level of supply/demand. It is my understanding that renewables are not consistent enough to meet these demands if peak demand happens outside of peak generation time. What's the solution to renewables not being consitent? (I would think nuclear is the solution but happy to hear your take on the matter)
That's what the original post was about. TL;DR:
The world is switching from century-old AC powerlines to HVDC powerlines. With HVDC interconnectors, we can connect grids and leverage time zones, wind schedules, stranded energy, etc. I gave several examples of completed and in-process projects. That's half the renewable consistency (intermittency) problem. The other half is energy storage solutions as they mature (chemical batteries, gravity batteries, green hydrogen via ammonia, etc). So together, interconnectors and energy storage solve the intermittence problem.
Nuclear has a future, just not the hyper-bullish one people paint. A typical nuclear plant puts out 3GW and costs $28B with a 6 year build timeframe. And the costs are only rising. The xlinks morocco renewable project can put out 3x that amount of energy for $9B less, a shorter build timeframe, with none of the longterm security costs/concerns. Renewable designs are getting more efficient, and the cost is falling. I'm all about following that trend to find its bottom.
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