Latest news with #JoseLuisDominguez-Garcia
IOL News
06-05-2025
- Science
- IOL News
Spain's blackout highlights renewables' grid challenge
Play at the Madrid Open was cancelled on Monday after a widespread power outage struck the Spanish capital. If a power plant fails or if electricity demand increases too quickly, they help stabilise the grid by releasing the kinetic energy stored in the rotors. Image: Oscar Del Pozo, AFP The cause of last week's massive power outage in Spain and Portugal remains unclear but it has shone a spotlight on solar and wind energy, which critics accuse of straining electricity grids. The rise of renewables presents a challenge for power grids, which must evolve to adapt as countries move away from fossil fuels. Maintaining stability Grid operators must ensure that electricity is constantly balanced between demand and supply. A metric of this balance is the frequency of the electricity flowing through the grid, set at 50 hertz (Hz) in Europe and 60 Hz in the United States. If that number drifts too far off, it can jeopardise the grid. Historically, the electricity system has relied on conventional power plants - gas, coal, nuclear and hydroelectric -- that use spinning turbines to generate electricity. These machines keep the frequency stable. With their gigantic rotors spinning at high speed, they provide inertia to the system. If a power plant fails or if electricity demand increases too quickly, they help stabilise the grid by releasing the kinetic energy stored in the rotors. Instead of spinning machines, solar and wind farms use electronic systems that feed power into the grid, making it harder to maintain that delicate balance. Renewable energy will have to do more than provide carbon-free electricity in the future, said Jose Luis Dominguez-Garcia, an electrical systems expert at the Catalonia Energy Research Institute (IREC). They will have to "assist the system with additional controls to support the grid, particularly in inertia terms", he said. Marc Petit, professor of electrical systems at top French engineering school CentraleSupelec, argued that moving away from fossil fuels would make hydroelectric and nuclear power plants "even more essential for stabilising the system" as they use rotating machines. Flywheels A range of technical solutions already exist to compensate for renewables' lack of inertia and hence to support grid stability. These include gravity storage, cryogenic liquid air, compressed air and concentrated solar power. As it undergoes a transition away from coal, Britain is banking on flywheels, a tried and tested system. Surplus power from solar and wind farms is used to make the large wheels turn, creating kinetic energy. This stored energy can then be converted to provide electricity to the grid if needed. No sun or wind Just before the massive blackout on April 28, wind and solar power provided 70 percent of Spain's electricity output. But renewables are intermittent sources of energy as they rely on nature. When the wind stops blowing or the sun is hiding, other sources have to step in within minutes, or there need to be adequate systems for storing -- and then releasing -- renewables in place. Depending on the country, backup supply currently comes from mainly thermal power plants (gas or coal), nuclear reactors or hydroelectricity. To handle the ups and downs of renewable power, countries must ramp up storage capacity. The most widespread method is pumped storage hydropower from water reservoirs. But large stationary batteries, akin to shipping containers, are increasingly being deployed alongside wind and solar farms -- a segment dominated by China. To meet the global goal of tripling renewable capacity by 2030, storage capacity will have to increase sixfold, with batteries doing 90 percent of the work, according to the International Energy Agency. Another way to ease pressure on the system would be to shift electricity use -- for example when you charge your car battery -- to the middle of the day, when solar power is at its peak. Rescale the network Widespread blackouts "have virtually always been triggered by transmission network failures, not by generation, renewables or otherwise", said Mike Hogan, advisor with the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), an NGO whose stated goal is to achieve a clean, reliable, equitable and cost-efficient energy future. Tens of billions of euros, perhaps hundreds of billions, will be needed to renovate ageing power lines and replace them with new ones that are more powerful. The need to modernise or expand the lines is pressing as energy-hungry data centres are growing and factories are increasingly consuming electricity. Countries also need to strengthen interconnections between their power systems. Such cross-border links helped to restore power to Spain as France stepped in to share electricity during the blackout. By 2028, exchange capacity between the two neighbours is expected to increase from 2.8 to 5.0 gigawatts, reducing the peninsula's relative electrical isolation. AFP
Japan Times
06-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
EU power grid needs trillion-dollar upgrade to avert Spain-style blackouts
Europe's aging power grid and lack of energy storage capacity will require trillions of dollars in investments to cope with rising green energy output, increasing electricity demand and to avoid blackouts. A week ago, Spain and Portugal lost power in their worst blackout. Authorities are investigating the cause, but whatever the findings, analysts and industry representatives say infrastructure investment is essential. "The blackout was a wake-up call. It showed that the need to modernize and reinforce Europe's electricity grid is urgent and unavoidable," Kristina Ruby, secretary-general at Eurelectric, Europe's electricity industry association, said. The European Union's power grid mostly dates back to the last century and half the lines are over 40 years old. Rising low-carbon energy production and booming demand from data centers and electric vehicles require an overhaul of the grids that also need digital protection to withstand cyberattacks. While global investment in renewables has nearly doubled since 2010, investment in grids has barely changed at around $300 billion a year. The amount needs to double by 2030 to over $600 billion a year to cover the necessary overhauls, according to the International Energy Agency. Spain has asked its own investigators and European Union regulators to investigate last Monday's outage. Tourists check into a hotel without electricity during a power outage that hit large parts of Spain, in Ronda on April 28. | REUTERS While the underlying issues have yet to become clear, grid operator Red Electrica said two separate incidents had triggered the massive power loss. It follows an acceleration in renewable energy use, especially in Spain, after Russia's invasion invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the resulting disruption of oil and gas supplies focused EU efforts on reducing dependence on fossil fuel. The share of renewables rose to 47% in the EU's power mix last year from 34% in 2019, while fossil fuels dropped to 29% from 39%, data from think tank Ember showed. Spain plans to phase out coal and nuclear power. Renewable generation hit a record high at 56% of Spain's power mix in 2024. Wind and solar projects are relatively quick to build compared with grids, which can take more than a decade. Part of the problem is the huge sums and complexity of improving a grid over a large distance. The European Commission has estimated Europe needs to invest $2.0-2.3 trillion in grids by 2050. Last year, European firms invested €80 billion ($90.5 billion) in grids, up from €50 to €70 billion in previous years, analysts at Bruegel said while adding investments may need to rise to 100 billion. Spain and Portugal's power systems are among those in Europe that lack connections to other grids that can provide back up. Spain needs more links to France and Morocco, said Jose Luis Dominguez-Garcia from Spain's energy research center IREC in Catalunya. Spain has only 5% of connections outside the Iberian Peninsula, he added. As some other countries also lag, the European Commission has a target to increase interconnection to 15% by 2030, from a previous goal of 10%, meaning each EU member country should be able to import at least 15% of its power production capacity from neighboring countries. Spain will reinforce connections with France, including a new link via the Bay of Biscay that will double the interconnection capacity between the two countries, Spain's grid Red Electrica said on Tuesday. As solar and wind generation grows, the challenges go beyond upgrading grids to the need for backup generation. Solar and wind farms generate direct current power, while traditional gas or nuclear plants generate alternating current. DC power is converted to AC in inverters to standard 50 hertz frequency for European grids and use in homes and businesses. If power generation drops, the grid requires backup AC power to prevent the frequency from dropping. In the event frequency drops, automatic safety mechanisms disconnect some generation to prevent overheating, damage to transformers or transmission lines. If too many plants drop off at the same time, the system can experience a blackout. Before last week's outage, Spain had suffered power glitches and industry officials had repeatedly warned of grid instability. Spain's energy officials have also said the country's plans to shut down all seven of its nuclear reactors by 2035 could put power supply at risk. Portugal has only two backup plants — a gas and a hydro plant — able to quickly respond if the grid needs more power, Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said last Tuesday, adding the country wants more. In Britain, a blackout in 2019 cut power to a million customers, when a lightning strike and a second, unrelated incident lowered the frequency of the grid. Since then, the country has invested to expand battery storage and had around 5 gigawatts of capacity installed at the end of last year, according to industry association RenewableUK. It can help balance the grid in the same way as power plants. Europe has 10.8 GW of battery storage and it will grow to 50 GW by 2030 — much less than the required 200 GW, according to the European Association for Storage of Energy. In Ireland, Siemens Energy has built the world's largest flywheel, which can also operate as power storage and help to stabilize the grid.
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
EU power grid needs trillion-dollar upgrade to avert Spain-style blackouts
Europe's ageing power grid and lack of energy storage capacity will require trillions of dollars in investments to cope with rising green energy output, increasing electricity demand and to avoid blackouts. A week ago, Spain and Portugal lost power in their worst blackout. Authorities are investigating the cause, but whatever the findings, analysts and industry representatives say infrastructure investment is essential. "The blackout was a wake-up call. It showed that the need to modernise and reinforce Europe's electricity grid is urgent and unavoidable," Kristina Ruby, secretary general at Eurelectric, Europe's electricity industry association, said. The European Union 's power grid mostly dates back to the last century and half the lines are over 40 years old. Rising low-carbon energy production and booming demand from data centres and electric vehicles require an overhaul of the grids that also need digital protection to withstand cyber attacks. While global investment in renewables has nearly doubled since 2010, investment in grids has barely changed at around $300 billion a year. The amount needs to double by 2030 to over $600 billion a year to cover the necessary overhauls, according to the International Energy Agency. Spain has asked its own investigators and European Union regulators to investigate last Monday's outage. While the underlying issues have yet to become clear, grid operator Red Electrica said two separate incidents had triggered the massive power loss. It follows an acceleration in renewable energy use, especially in Spain, after Russia's invasion invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the resulting disruption of oil and gas supplies focused EU efforts on reducing dependence on fossil fuel. The share of renewables rose to 47 per cent in the EU's power mix last year from 34 per cent in 2019, while fossil fuels dropped to 29 per cent from 39 per cent , data from think tank Ember showed. Spain plans to phase out coal and nuclear power. Renewable generation hit a record high at 56 per cent of Spain's power mix in 2024. Wind and solar projects are relatively quick to build compared with grids, which can take more than a decade. Part of the problem is the huge sums and complexity of improving a grid over a large distance. The European Commission has estimated Europe needs to invest $2.0-2.3 trillion in grids by 2050. Last year, European firms invested 80 billion euros ($90.5 billion) in grids, up from 50-70 billion in previous years, analysts at Bruegel said while adding investments may need to rise to 100 billion. INTER-STATE CONNECTIONS Spain and Portugal's power systems are among those in Europe that lack connections to other grids that can provide back up. Spain needs more links to France and Morocco, said Jose Luis Dominguez-Garcia from Spain's energy research centre IREC in Catalunya. Spain has only 5 per cent of connections outside the Iberian Peninsula, he added. As some other countries also lag, the European Commission has a target to increase interconnection to 15 per cent by 2030, from a previous goal of 10 per cent , meaning each EU member country should be able to import at least 15 per cent of its power production capacity from neighbouring countries. Spain will reinforce connections with France, including a new link via the Bay of Biscay that will double the interconnection capacity between the two countries, Spain's grid Red Electrica said on Tuesday. NEED FOR BACK UP As solar and wind generation grows, the challenges go beyond upgrading grids to the need for back-up generation. Solar and wind farms generate direct current power, while traditional gas or nuclear plants generate alternating current. DC power is converted to AC in inverters to standard 50 Hertz frequency for European grids and use in homes and businesses. If power generation drops, the grid requires back-up AC power to prevent the frequency from dropping. In the event frequency drops, automatic safety mechanisms disconnect some generation to prevent overheating, damage to transformers or transmission lines. If too many plants drop off at the same time, the system can experience a blackout. Before last week's outage, Spain had suffered power glitches and industry officials had repeatedly warned of grid instability. Spain's energy officials have also said the country's plans to shut down all seven of its nuclear reactors by 2035 could put power supply at risk. Portugal has only two back-up plants - a gas and a hydro plant - able to quickly respond if the grid needs more power, Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said on Tuesday, adding the country wants more. In Britain, a blackout in 2019 cut power to a million customers, when a lightning strike and a second, unrelated incident lowered the frequency of the grid. Since then, the country has invested to expand battery storage and had around 5 gigawatts of capacity installed at the end of last year, according to industry association RenewableUK. It can help balance the grid in the same way as power plants. Europe has 10.8 gigawatts of battery storage and it will grow to 50 GW by 2030 - much less than the required 200 GW, according to the European Association for Storage of Energy. In Ireland, Siemens Energy has built the world's largest flywheel, which can also operate as power storage and help to stabilise the grid.
Qatar Tribune
05-05-2025
- Science
- Qatar Tribune
Spain's blackout sheds light on renewables' grid challenge
Agencies The cause of last week's massive power outage in Spain and Portugal remains unclear, but it has shone a spotlight on solar and wind energy, which critics accuse of straining electricity grids. The rise of renewables presents a challenge for power grids, which must evolve to adapt as countries move away from fossil fuels. Grid operators must ensure that electricity is constantly balanced between demand and supply. A metric of this balance is the frequency of the electricity flowing through the grid, set at 50 hertz (Hz) in Europe and 60 Hz in the United States. If that number drifts too far off, it can jeopardize the grid. Historically, the electricity system has relied on conventional power plants – gas, coal, nuclear and hydroelectric – that use spinning turbines to generate electricity. These machines keep the frequency their gigantic rotors spinning at high speed, they provide inertia to the system. If a power plant fails or if electricity demand increases too quickly, they help stabilise the grid by releasing the kinetic energy stored in the rotors. Instead of spinning machines, solar and wind farms use electronic systems that feed power into the grid, making it harder to maintain that delicate energy will have to do more than provide carbon-free electricity in the future, said Jose Luis Dominguez-Garcia, an electrical systems expert at the Catalonia Energy Research Institute (IREC).They will have to 'assist the system with additional controls to support the grid, particularly in inertia terms,' he said. Marc Petit, professor of electrical systems at the top French engineering school CentraleSupelec, argued that moving away from fossil fuels would make hydroelectric and nuclear power plants 'even more essential for stabilizing the system' as they use rotating machines. A range of technical solutions already exists to compensate for renewables' lack of inertia and hence to support grid include gravity storage, cryogenic liquid air, compressed air and concentrated solar it undergoes a transition away from coal, Britain is banking on flywheels, a tried and tested system.
Nahar Net
05-05-2025
- Science
- Nahar Net
Spain's blackout highlights renewables' grid challenge
by Naharnet Newsdesk 7 hours The cause of last week's massive power outage in Spain and Portugal remains unclear but it has shone a spotlight on solar and wind energy, which critics accuse of straining electricity grids. The rise of renewables presents a challenge for power grids, which must evolve to adapt as countries move away from fossil fuels. - Maintaining stability - Grid operators must ensure that electricity is constantly balanced between demand and supply. A metric of this balance is the frequency of the electricity flowing through the grid, set at 50 hertz (Hz) in Europe and 60 Hz in the United States. If that number drifts too far off, it can jeopardize the grid. Historically, the electricity system has relied on conventional power plants -- gas, coal, nuclear and hydroelectric -- that use spinning turbines to generate electricity. These machines keep the frequency stable. With their gigantic rotors spinning at high speed, they provide inertia to the system. If a power plant fails or if electricity demand increases too quickly, they help stabilize the grid by releasing the kinetic energy stored in the rotors. Instead of spinning machines, solar and wind farms use electronic systems that feed power into the grid, making it harder to maintain that delicate balance. Renewable energy will have to do more than provide carbon-free electricity in the future, said Jose Luis Dominguez-Garcia, an electrical systems expert at the Catalonia Energy Research Institute (IREC). They will have to "assist the system with additional controls to support the grid, particularly in inertia terms", he said. Marc Petit, professor of electrical systems at top French engineering school CentraleSupelec, argued that moving away from fossil fuels would make hydroelectric and nuclear power plants "even more essential for stabilizing the system" as they use rotating machines. - Flywheels - A range of technical solutions already exist to compensate for renewables' lack of inertia and hence to support grid stability. These include gravity storage, cryogenic liquid air, compressed air and concentrated solar power. As it undergoes a transition away from coal, Britain is banking on flywheels, a tried and tested system. Surplus power from solar and wind farms is used to make the large wheels turn, creating kinetic energy. This stored energy can then be converted to provide electricity to the grid if needed. - No sun or wind - Just before the massive blackout on April 28, wind and solar power provided 70 percent of Spain's electricity output. But renewables are intermittent sources of energy as they rely on nature. When the wind stops blowing or the sun is hiding, other sources have to step in within minutes, or there need to be adequate systems for storing -- and then releasing -- renewables in place. Depending on the country, backup supply currently comes from mainly thermal power plants (gas or coal), nuclear reactors or hydroelectricity. To handle the ups and downs of renewable power, countries must ramp up storage capacity. The most widespread method is pumped storage hydropower from water reservoirs. But large stationary batteries, akin to shipping containers, are increasingly being deployed alongside wind and solar farms -- a segment dominated by China. To meet the global goal of tripling renewable capacity by 2030, storage capacity will have to increase sixfold, with batteries doing 90 percent of the work, according to the International Energy Agency. Another way to ease pressure on the system would be to shift electricity use -- for example when you charge your car battery -- to the middle of the day, when solar power is at its peak. - Rescale the network - Widespread blackouts "have virtually always been triggered by transmission network failures, not by generation, renewables or otherwise", said Mike Hogan, advisor with the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), an NGO whose stated goal is to achieve a clean, reliable, equitable and cost-efficient energy future. Tens of billions of euros, perhaps hundreds of billions, will be needed to renovate ageing power lines and replace them with new ones that are more powerful. The need to modernize or expand the lines is pressing as energy-hungry data centers are growing and factories are increasingly consuming electricity. Countries also need to strengthen interconnections between their power systems. Such cross-border links helped to restore power to Spain as France stepped in to share electricity during the blackout. By 2028, exchange capacity between the two neighbors is expected to increase from 2.8 to 5.0 gigawatts, reducing the peninsula's relative electrical isolation.
