Major system-wide benefits are obtainable for European power producers that quickly replace coal with renewable energy, from avoiding fuel and carbon costs to new power export opportunities.
Grids continue to be a thorn in the side of European renewables as long connection queues and exorbitant fees risk stymying the clean energy transition. In this exclusive discussion from Large Scale Solar Europe 2021, we hear how grid operators are adapting to the demands of clean power generators.
Portuguese grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais has said it will invest more than €900 million (US$1.1 billion) by 2024 in technologies and improvements to the electricity network to support the country’s green energy transition.
Having been hailed as the new king of electricity markets, Liam Stoker charts solar’s journey up until this point, explores how it has earned the crown and poses the question: what next for PV?
France’s grid operator RTE has warned of tighter than forecast power supply margins, with delays to renewables development in the country expected to exacerbate a shortfall of nuclear generation.
Oil and gas major Shell has said it will spend between US$2 billion and US$3 billion on renewables and energy solutions annually to help it attain net zero status by 2050.
As the proliferation of grid-scale renewables accelerates, capacity on national grids is diminishing just as quickly, leading to harder to find and ever-costlier connection agreements. Liam Stoker assesses some of the alternative options grid operators are exploring to extortionate grid upgrades.
