Energy infrastructure

Why would the Moyle be limited to 204MW export last night? A week ago 408MW was being exported, and 440MW imported in between. From the graph it looks like there was more that could have been exported and there was probably some curtailment between 00:00 and 06:00.

The RESS auctions now set a fixed price for generation. The deal is that the State will pay the operator to keep income at the agreed strike price, but against that they will also tax away any higher prices. An operator goes in there knowing what they'll get for their investment over the initial period. After that time, market pricing will take effect, and yes, if gas is still dominant, they can make a killing.

But energy-storage operators are not the same people as the generators: in a way, they are in competition with the wind operators, as they can buy the surplus electricity from the wind operators when there's nobody else to buy it, then sell it at a nice profit against the same wind operators when there is high demand.

Anyone else subscribe to ESB Networks "Flex Events"?

I'm perplexed, as they have asked me to use more electricity between 1000-1200 today, however Eirgrid dashboard shows 750MW net import ATM.

I'll get my €5 for responding either way, just wonder what is the reasoning behind this?

Nothing really important but just an interesting nugget about utility-scale PV in Ireland:

"PV installations are growing so quickly (from such a low base) that similar solar power was generated in October this year than June 2023."

https://bsky.app/profile/hannahdaly.ie/post/3lcz7yaepw226

The ESB calculated our future energy requirements using renewables would require a trillion Tesla power walls equivalent of battery storage add the cost of batteries to wind and solar and they are literally unaffordable.

The Tesla Powerwall 3 is $13,500 Even richest person ever Musk with his $800 billion couldn't make a dent in that $13,500 trillion purchase - the entire EU with it's 430 million population couldn't afford it. BESS can not leverage renewables into making them a net zero energy solution.

What factual information, you just made an erroneous claim that solar and wind are the cheapest sources? The LCOE costing model is fallacious when applied to renewables, particularly when the costs involved in the idiocy of trying to leverage them into being base-load sources are also taken into consideration.

Incidentally - your cheap car analogy,

There's 2 ways of thinking of wind turbines - the cheap unreliable banger

Or

You just bought a bike, it's cheap ,it's quick has health benefits, but it can't do everything it's just a bike - so you invest in an e-bike , more money,obviously need to plug it in , but it doesn't kill you on the hills and headwinds.. you still have a family car , and you can use it on stormy days and for long trips , but you're using very little fuel and doing low milage ,

You might also have a leap card , for when you get the train into town -

None of them are exclusive - your leap card doesn't bitch that you use a bike , your car doesn't care if you go to town without it - they're just things - part of a system

I have heard of it. It took less than a year from the SA grid falling over due to over dependence on renewables to that facility being commissioned, a process that would have taken a decade or more in this dysfunctional country.

Hornsdale when commissioned could discharge for 77 minutes. Batteries can not affordably store and supply the multi TWh of energy you need to convert intermittent renewables into baseload solutions.

13.5PWh of storage is about 440 times Ireland's 2023 metered electricity use of 30.6TWh. Was your source assuming that all fossil fuel energy use was going to be replaced by electricity?

Tesla megapacks are a lot cheaper per kWh than Powerwalls.