Where does the ‘energy transition’ end?

[rangerrebew]

Where does the ‘energy transition’ end?
Director's column
24 Mar 2025
Written By Andrew Montford

This post attempts to explain what happens when you take an electricity grid powered exclusively by gas turbines, and progressively add windfarms. Will you save money?

The answer is, ‘It depends’.

At least at first, it depends mostly on the gas price. You add the (very large) fixed capital and operating costs of a windfarm, but you save some fuel costs in the gas units. The capex and fixed opex of the gas units are not saved because you can’t close any power stations down, just in case the wind doesn’t blow.

This means:

If gas prices are low, it’s unlikely there will be a net saving, so every windfarm you add simply increases the overall cost of the system. Since demand is unchanged, unit costs (and therefore selling prices) have to increase.

If gas prices are high, however, you will indeed make a saving. In these circumstances, for every windfarm you add, the overall system cost goes down.

https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/does-wind-power-save-money

[Smokin Joe]

False dichotomy.

Natural Gas is good, but we have well over 500 years' worth of coal, we have nuclear, hydropower, all of which are proven providers of reliable energy. Let the wind farms and others compete in a fair market, without subsidy.

[Fishrrman]

Question:
"Where does the ‘energy transition’ end?"

Answer:
It doesn't.

Because... the entire "greenunist movement" is based on communism and control, it falls into the realm of "continuous revolution".

It must go on forever because by doing so it enables the greenunists to maintain control and never release same.

"the [green/environmental] issue is never the issue. The issue is... the revolution."

[catfish1957]

From my POV, diversification is best.  Have it all, with enough redundancies to protect the grid,and then some.

[berdie]

From my POV, diversification is best.  Have it all, with enough redundancies to protect the grid,and then some.

Agree 100 per cent.

[Smokin Joe]

Question:
"Where does the ‘energy transition’ end?"

Answer:
It doesn't.

Because... the entire "greenunist movement" is based on communism and control, it falls into the realm of "continuous revolution".

It must go on forever because by doing so it enables the greenunists to maintain control and never release same.

"the [green/environmental] issue is never the issue. The issue is... the revolution."

It ends when the peasants look up from their handcarts at the elite flying overhead.

[Smokin Joe]

From my POV, diversification is best.  Have it all, with enough redundancies to protect the grid,and then some.

Mama said "Never put all your eggs in one basket."

Critical systems best have multiple redundancies.