Solving the intermittency of renewables; Everything is everything, Ep18
Solving the intermittency of renewables
RE technology has made miraculous gains. The decarbonised energy system now involves one great stumbling block: the intermittency of renewables. This calls for a new industry to arise, the business of energy storage. This business opportunity is about buying electricity when it’s cheap (e.g. the afternoon) and selling it when it’s expensive (the evening).
In a column in the Business Standard on 29 October, Akshay Jaitly and I emphasise that the business of energy storage is distinct from the business of electricity generation. Allowing prices to do their job — for the price in the evening to be high and the price in the afternoon to be low — is the key to obtaining private investment in storage (and to demand side adjustment). We sketch the coming years of the energy transition, and think about innovation, risk and the regulated rate of return.
Episode 18 of Everything is everything
At Episode 18 of `Everything is everything’, Amit Varma and I talk about What is wrong with Indian agriculture.