You are correct that Wind Droughts are a problem for grids. However, I am trying to understand the net effect on the whole system.
On a grid with wind/solar backed up by dispatchables such as coal or gas, wind droughts are nearly invisible to the ordinary consumer. This is because during the drought, gas or coal steps in to maintain grid stability and maintain a reliable energy supply.
In this case, the real concern is the high variability of VRE which includes wind droughts. The issue is that while more wind and solar reduces AVERAGE Net Generation of coal/gas, it still requires a PEAK generation that requires all facilities to remain in service.
To the perspective of dispatchables, it does not matter if wind and solar are low for 1 hour or 10 days.
This is very apparent on grids like the UK, Australia, Texas, Germany, California etc.
As energy storage is built up with the intent of eliminating hydrocarbons, this is where wind (and Solar) droughts really come into play.
The longer the wind droughts exist, the higher the total energy capacity (GWh) of energy storage you need.
To support the additional storage capacity, they must also install significant amounts of wind and solar capacity to charge it.
Contrary to poplar opinion, storage does not sop up 100% of curtailment so needs additional charging capacity.
This becomes very expensive both in Capex and FCOE.
The extreme case of low CF for wind is the wind drought when there is little or no wind and there is a “solar drought” at night when CF in zero. Wind droughts at night are the fatal impediment to the net zero program because the grid has to be fed continually and breaks in continuity should disqualify the intermittent providers from the grid.
Failure to take account of wind droughts has caused the sabotage of the grid although this only became apparent after wind became a significant contributor. Still it needs to be clearly understood and windmills should be taken off the grid at the earliest opportunity. The cost of windpower, however it is calculated, is practically irrelevant because it is not fit for purpose.
Wind droughts are periods with little or no wind across continental or subcontinental areas for periods up to several days in Australia and North America, and weeks for the Dunkelflautes in Europe.
Australian investigators clearly defined wind droughts by 2012 and they could have been the most important discovery in the 20th century if they had been found before the obsession with wind and solar power prompted the expenditure of trillions worldwide to obtain more expensive and less reliable power with massive collateral damage to the environment.
The silence of the meteorologists calls for investigation especially when we find, thanks to John Maclean, that the first assessment report of the IPCC in 1990 recommended a survey of the wind resources of the world to assess the possibilities for large-scale wind power.
This offers a point of entry to undermine the climate scam and the net zero ponzi by tracing the complicity of the meteorologists in a conspiracy of silence at the heart of the evil empire. Remember that the WMO was a first mover in the climate alarm industry in the United Nations and continues daily to promote that fraud in practically every bulletin that they issue to the public.
You are correct that Wind Droughts are a problem for grids. However, I am trying to understand the net effect on the whole system.
On a grid with wind/solar backed up by dispatchables such as coal or gas, wind droughts are nearly invisible to the ordinary consumer. This is because during the drought, gas or coal steps in to maintain grid stability and maintain a reliable energy supply.
In this case, the real concern is the high variability of VRE which includes wind droughts. The issue is that while more wind and solar reduces AVERAGE Net Generation of coal/gas, it still requires a PEAK generation that requires all facilities to remain in service.
To the perspective of dispatchables, it does not matter if wind and solar are low for 1 hour or 10 days.
This is very apparent on grids like the UK, Australia, Texas, Germany, California etc.
As energy storage is built up with the intent of eliminating hydrocarbons, this is where wind (and Solar) droughts really come into play.
The longer the wind droughts exist, the higher the total energy capacity (GWh) of energy storage you need.
To support the additional storage capacity, they must also install significant amounts of wind and solar capacity to charge it.
Contrary to poplar opinion, storage does not sop up 100% of curtailment so needs additional charging capacity.
This becomes very expensive both in Capex and FCOE.
The extreme case of low CF for wind is the wind drought when there is little or no wind and there is a “solar drought” at night when CF in zero. Wind droughts at night are the fatal impediment to the net zero program because the grid has to be fed continually and breaks in continuity should disqualify the intermittent providers from the grid.
Failure to take account of wind droughts has caused the sabotage of the grid although this only became apparent after wind became a significant contributor. Still it needs to be clearly understood and windmills should be taken off the grid at the earliest opportunity. The cost of windpower, however it is calculated, is practically irrelevant because it is not fit for purpose.
Wind droughts are periods with little or no wind across continental or subcontinental areas for periods up to several days in Australia and North America, and weeks for the Dunkelflautes in Europe.
Australian investigators clearly defined wind droughts by 2012 and they could have been the most important discovery in the 20th century if they had been found before the obsession with wind and solar power prompted the expenditure of trillions worldwide to obtain more expensive and less reliable power with massive collateral damage to the environment.
https://rafechampion.substack.com/p/the-late-discovery-of-wind-droughts
https://open.substack.com/pub/rafechampion/p/we-have-to-talk-about-wind-droughts
The silence of the meteorologists calls for investigation especially when we find, thanks to John Maclean, that the first assessment report of the IPCC in 1990 recommended a survey of the wind resources of the world to assess the possibilities for large-scale wind power.
This offers a point of entry to undermine the climate scam and the net zero ponzi by tracing the complicity of the meteorologists in a conspiracy of silence at the heart of the evil empire. Remember that the WMO was a first mover in the climate alarm industry in the United Nations and continues daily to promote that fraud in practically every bulletin that they issue to the public.
https://www.flickerpower.com/index.php/search/categories/general/escaping-the-wind-drought-trap