By Steven Law, P.Eng., Resilient World Institute; and Greg Young, B.Eng., EIT., MNP, Energy & Utilities
"Imagine the scenario where you finally get through the complex stages of building an electricity generating power plant, plug it into the grid, and then… not be allowed to generate the power you are able to produce. This exact scenario can be a common event with renewable energy technology in Ontario, Canada, with some years resulting in abandoning up to 26% of the electricity we are able to produce with wind and solar.
A disadvantage with renewables that we’ve all heard before, particularly with wind and solar, is their intermittent power production due to their weather-dependent fuel source. This means that the temporal generation of renewable energy can be misaligned with grid demand. The solution to this problem is using energy storage to capture our renewable energy production when it is available to then use later during periods of high grid demand or otherwise when the wind or sun is not available."
