• AceBonobo@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Auto tldr bot missed this:

    Currently, the country’s electricity grid is only permitted to have a maximum of 75 per cent renewables in its energy mix. That meant that some of the energy was exported to Britain and Ireland had to meet the rest of the demand using fossil fuels.

    This limit has gone up over the years from 50 to 75 per cent since 2011 and is set to increase further to 95 per cent by 2030. It is in place because using entirely renewable power means changes have to be made to the country’s electricity grid.

    • Skua@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I suppose at least if it was exported to the UK, it was hopefully still displacing some fossil fuel usage

      • sugartits@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The UK sometimes has an excess of green energy as well.

        I’m on a limited trial where I sometimes get completely free electricity for a couple of hours on specific days (my provider emails the day before to let me know and opt in).

        I can charge my car, my solar batteries (they can charge from the grid if instructed), run the dishwasher, washing machine. And it costs nothing.

        And then during the peak usage times, I’m using less power as I’ve done the stuff I would have done in those peak hours.

        They don’t do this from the goodness of their heart: there is an excess of energy available and they want it used instead of turning off production. Hopefully this rolls out to more areas soon.

        I used to be on an “agile” tariff where the price changes every 30 minutes. Sometimes the price would go negative and I’d get paid to use energy. A good opportunity to turn on some fan heaters and warm the garden. Those flowers look a little chilly.

      • dependencyInjection@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Im torn between giving an upvote for asking a question or giving a downvote for your following sentence given the answer was in the comment you were replying to.

        Also, if you ask a question wouldn’t it be wise to wait for the answer before also passing judgement on something.

        “Why is this like this? That’s fucking dumb.” Doesn’t quite work does it? How can it be dumb if you don’t know how it works. Why should we trust your assessment on its dumbness if you’ve already conceded you don’t know.

        • Dojan@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          They’re not asking how, they’re asking why. And something can absolutely appear as dumb without you knowing why something is one way or another.

          It might not be dumb, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t look dumb. Besides that’s entirely subjective.

        • WindowCreep@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You’re such a removed for typing up 3 paragraphs to something that took me 3 seconds to type up in a passing thought ngl

      • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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        1 year ago

        Base load generators cant adjust their output quickly enough to match the daily demand curve. Your options are to keep them online at a fixed level 24/7, or cut them entirely. If you don’t have enough renewable production to meet overnight demand, you have to meet that demand with base load generators, which means you have to keep those generators online. If you have to keep them online, and wind is providing more power than is being demanded, you have to cut the wind production to match demand.

        To get those (usually coal-fired) generators offline, you need to drop your overnight consumption, add storage, switch to non-fossil baseload generators (nuclear), use less efficient “peaker” plants (usually gas turbine generators fired by natural gas or oil), or some combination thereof.

        You’re right, it is “fucking stupid”, but it is due to the functional limitations of the equipment they currently have available. With those limitations, the best option is to export your excess wind production to someone who needs it, and improve your own grid to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

      • maporita@unilem.org
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        1 year ago

        Renewables suffer from intermittency … production depends on whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining … and they can’t be ramped up quickly to cope with increased demand. So you need a baseline source to take care of that and the only options we have are fossil fuel or nuclear.

        • Olap@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Ireland outlawed nuclear in 1999. Not a NATO member quite famously too

      • thethirdobject@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It is in place because using entirely renewable power means changes have to be made to the country’s electricity grid.