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Europe Backs Supergrids

Continued from page 1

By Peter Fairley

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

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Still, political challenges remain. Kjaer points to a set of wind farms for Kriegers Flak, a shallow sandbar in the Baltic where the territorial waters of Denmark, Sweden, and Germany converge. Each country plans to build three of the world's largest offshore wind farms--up to 640 megawatts each, about the size of a medium-size coal plant--within a few miles of each other, yet without coordinated transmission. "They are talking about taking one grid into Sweden, and one into Germany, and then you have the Danes," says Kjaer. "It makes no sense."

A coordinated link, Kjaer says, would cost less to build than three separate lines, and would provide considerable extra value by linking Northern Germany's variable wind-power production with Sweden's hydropower riches. Germany could export excess wind power to Sweden via a Kriegers Flak interconnection when it has more than it can absorb, then import hydropower from Sweden when the wind dies down. The EC has appointed a mediator--as it did for the French-Spanish interconnection--to work on the issue.

Such efforts could pave the way to an entirely fossil-free power supply in Europe, much as Al Gore has proposed for the United States. Modeling by Gregor Czisch, an energy consultant in Kassel, Germany, shows that in theory, Europe and North Africa can source all of their electricity from renewable sources using a supergrid with conventional HVDC lines that can shift power thousands of miles with minimal losses. In this vision, wind power provides 70 percent of Europe and North Africa's energy needs, and Scandinavian hydropower serves as the backup battery, while African solar farms and distributed biomass-fueled power plants play supporting roles.

Notably missing from the supergrid vision? A role for the conventional power plants that provide most of today's power. "The utilities are thinking about the supergrid," says Czisch, "but not too fast." Czisch says that the utilities prefer a short-term approach to transmission planning that is more protective of their existing investments, whereas the public needs a bold new approach to planning at a European or at least regional level: "We really need an independent organization which can do the calculations necessary."

Comments

  • Interstate commerce
    It seems like this would fall under interstate commerce and be a federal issue the same way interstate highways are.

    We need a lower loss transmission network in place if we want alternative energy to have any chance.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    asdar
    12/02/2008
    Posts:69
    Avg Rating:
    4/5
  • Are GRIDS really the answer?
    I am concerned that we're going to spend trillions on extensive electric grids only to discover they are not worth it:
    - efficiency questionable
    - ugly as sin
    - great targets for terrorists & hurricanes
    - a constant maintenance issue
    - massive capital expenditure
    - favors big business / big power / big capital

    Attractive options include "solar houses" and other super efficient designs and micro-nuclear reactors ("hot-tub" sized thorium reactors.)

    Solar homes offer an increasingly viable solution for suburban and rural living; a new generation of miniature, self-limiting, non-proliferating thorium reactors seem to offer an ideal solution for industrial power and city-block/small-town power needs.
    http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf33.html
    http://www.thoriumpower.com
    http://www.thoriumpower.com/files/Ten_Essential_Facts_About_thorium.pdf

    Note: there are many 3rd world countries that will be able to build mini-reactors for much less than full scale nuclear power, and by offering easily distributed power (not requiring a "grid"), there is the potential for these small scale (non-proliferating, safe) reactors to spring up in the 3rd world like popcorn... Consider how the 3rd world skipped "wire line phones" in favor of distributed cell towers; they could skip building "The Grid" by using mini-reactors local to the need.  We can't seem to keep nuclear power away from the 3rd world, far better that they be "given" thorium based mini reactors than they develop Iran-style Uranium reactors capable of producing Plutonium.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    cwflink
    12/02/2008
    Posts:3
    Avg Rating:
    4/5
  • Gigawatts?
    why didnt you say 68 gigawatts instead of 68000 mega watts? just wondering.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    camdaddy09
    12/02/2008
    Posts:37
    Avg Rating:
    3/5
  • European Power?
    Spain and France agreed on something. And it only took 15 years.
    I am all for renewable power, but at this rate it will take five hundred years to make the SuperGrids they are talking about.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    DennisBuller
    12/02/2008
    Posts:39
    Avg Rating:
    4/5
  • Political Leadership AND Market Solutions Needed in US
    In the US, the republican-lead Western Goveners' Association is trying to get "big and bold" when it comes to energy policy. However, it appears that some conservatives see this move as betraying Republican values. Until the politics of this issue are resolved, market-based solutions will have to wait.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    SkiGreenGuy
    12/04/2008
    Posts:1

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