Let’s Keep Talking About FCAS
Following on from the Let's Talk About FCAS post, the focus of this post is the business case and subsequent optimisation challenge for getting involved in FCAS, now that the technical performance components have...
Energy Transition
A large collection of articles pertaining to the ongoing ‘Energy Transition’ in any of a number of ways.
Specific sub-categories relate to such things as Coal Closure, and other aspects of the transition.
Grandfathers Axe or Low Hanging Fruit?
Upgrading our existing coal thermal fleet to increase efficiency and flexibility could provide a cost-effective opportunity to add dispatchable capacity and lower the overall carbon intensity of our electricity sector.
Villain #3 – those at either extreme of the Emotion-o-meter
It seems to us that the people at either extreme of the Emotion-o-meter are causing this energy transition to see-saw off the tracks. For this reason they are Villain #3.
How does frequency regulation help avoid Blackouts?
What are the lessons about frequency regulation that can be learned from the SA blackout?
It’s complete baloney to claim that there’s “less than 1%” of peak demand in the NEM that is currently providing Demand Response
Some quick thoughts (before I run out of time) about why it's all-too-commonly (but mistakenly) stated that there's not much Demand Response in the NEM
If you increase your consumption of energy at a time when average emissions intensity is low, you’re not necessarily doing a good thing for the environment
A quick note about the need to avoid focusing on average emissions intensity (for the wrong reasons) and losing sight of the fact that it's the emissions intensity of the next marginal unit of...
Some simple calculations to help get my head around the scale of the numbers pertaining to Battery Storage
Some quick calculations performed today to help me try to understand what the future might hold, in terms of battery storage (given I've been asked to talk batteries today at the National Consumer Roundtable...
Following up, with a top-down (NEM-wide) look at daily solar production (small and large) through 2017
Following on from my earlier post about my own experiences as a small power generator (with solar PV at home), I've taken a broader look at solar PV production NEM-wide, including over the corresponding...
No Guarantee of Success
Our guest author, Allan O'Neil, poses a number of questions about the recently proposed "National Energy Guarantee" (NEG)
Villain #2 – we, the voting public
My sense is that we, the voting public, are Villains #2 in running the energy transition train off the tracks.
Villain #1 – our Emperors (present, past and would-be) have no clothes
First up in our listing of Villains in relation to the unfolding energy crisis are, of course, our political leaders - State and Federal, past, present and prospective.
A long list of Villains – that have each contributed to our “energy crisis”
A multi-layered energy crisis is upon us. I've identified 10 "root causes" (or "villains") that have each played key roles in the way in which our energy transition has run off the rails.
Comparison between Liddell Power Station (in NSW) with Muja A&B Power Station (in WA)
Some quick thoughts about the comparison being made by others between two ageing coal-fired power stations (Liddell power station in NSW and the Muja A&B stations in the SWIS of WA)
Is the market, that wasn’t broken, now dead?
Guest author, Andrew Bonwick, posts his thoughts on a range of challenges confronting us in this energy transition.
Using this train analogy to critique some recent developments with Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS)
[PART 2 of] a post by guest author, Bruce Miller – which was initially posted on LinkedIn as one piece, but which has been broken into two on WattClarity as each part serves different...
Why is wind production being curtailed (or “dispatched down”, more strictly speaking)?
It was inevitable that Semi-Scheduled plant would start to experience times when they are dispatched down. It's a big prompt to take next steps up the learning curve.
A solar eclipse is just one type of a larger class of challenge with solar PV
Some thoughts about challenges with intermittent solar PV, triggered by this week's Solar Eclipse in North America
Energy Users as the “victim” in the train wreck that’s unfolding before our eyes
A few thoughts about how energy users (including each of us) are the main victims in the unfolding train wreck that's become of this energy transition off the rails.
ACCC chief, Rod Sims, includes 6 factors driving retail electricity prices higher
A timely reminder from Rod Sims (at the ACCC) this week that there are a number of factors driving electricity price higher - not just a single "smoking gun"
Forecast, of sorts, for the National Electricity Market – Train Wreck upon us?
An energy crisis (like a train wreck) is upon us.