Summer is a paradox season for the energy sector. On the one hand, renewables are reaching historical figures. June marked the month of greater production of solar energy ever registered in the European Union: Friolera of 45 twh22% more than the previous year. On the other, many Europeans saw how their light of the light doubled or even tripled. The question is inevitable: if we swim in solar energy, why do we pay more for electricity?
The demand is triggered. The heat waves that run Europe They have put the thermometers around 40 ºC in numerous points in Spain, France and Germany. With air conditioning systems, working at maximum power, the electrical demand has shot.
According to him Last Ember reportdaily demand grew by 14% in Spain, 9% in France and 6% in Germany during the month of June. A greater electrical demand, alone, already presses the prices of upward light. But the heat brought with it a second problem, this time on the offer side.
Thermal plants are suffocated. The same heat that drives the demand for air conditioning puts traditional energy plants, especially nuclear. These facilities need huge amounts of river water to refrigerate their reactors. When the water temperature rises too much, its refrigeration capacity decreases, forcing to reduce production and, in extreme cases, to stop it completely.
France It has been the most affected country. Its fleet of nuclear centrals, one of the pillars of the European interconnected network, is suffering capacity reductions in almost all its facilities. But it is not an exclusively nuclear problem. In Poland, the cooling of coal centrals is being a constant concern, and in Italy, the overheating of the network cables was the most likely cause of the blackout of July 1. At the time of maximum need, a crucial part of the generation of traditional energy is not available.
Missing storage for the solar. The saving of this crisis is photovoltaic solar energy. In Germany, the Solar came to generate 50 GW peaks, covering between 33% and 39% of the entire electricity of the country. With a marginal cost close to zero, solar panels are doing exactly what is expected of them: maintain the stability of the network during the day with abundant and cheap energy, despite their Performance problems under extreme heat.
The night is another song. At sunset, solar production falls to zero, but the refrigeration demand remains high. When the high temperatures persist until well into the night, Insufficient storage capacity (either in batteries or With pumping hydroelectric) forces to resort to gas and other fossil sources to cover the hole, shooting prices.
The damn “Spred”. This temporal mismatch caused by the abundance of variable energy and the lack of resources to store it is what causes madness in prices. A daily price differential (the “spred”) of up to € 400/MWh in Germany and € 470/MWh in Poland.
This night peak, and not the average price, is what triggers the final bill and makes the light through the clouds when more cheap energy is producing. The lesson is clear: the challenge is not only to generate cheap renewable energy, but manage it. More storage is needed to buy energy at low prices at noon and sell it at high prices in the afternoon.
But also More European interconnections. The heat wave did not affect all of Europe with the same intensity and the same day. The biggest June peaks arrived in Madrid on Domingo, Paris on Tuesday and Berlin on Wednesday. The reinforcement of the interconnections will allow to distribute the cheap energy more and better.
Image | Agrisolar Clearinghouse (CC)
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