Recent investigations into the stability of power grids reliant on weather-dependent renewable energy sources (WD-RESs), such as solar and wind, offer encouraging insights as nations worldwide strive to fulfill their climate emission goals. The findings suggest that grids with a substantial integration of WD-RESs generally experience less severe blackouts in the United States.
Recent investigations into the stability of power grids reliant on weather-dependent renewable energy sources (WD-RESs), such as solar and wind, offer encouraging insights as nations worldwide strive to fulfill their climate emission goals. The findings suggest that grids with a substantial integration of WD-RESs generally experience less severe blackouts in the United States.
This study, recently published in the journal Nature Energy, utilized blackout data from the US spanning from 2001 to 2020, but these insights are relevant to any country adopting power grids that are predominantly powered by WD-RESs.
For instance, in Ireland in 2023, 38.9% of electricity was generated from renewable sources, with projections indicating this could exceed 70% by 2030.
The fluctuating nature of renewable energy production has been widely debated during the global energy transition, yet the association between WD-RESs and blackouts remains a contentious topic.
“Some argue that the unpredictability of renewable energy sources leads to heightened power grid unreliability during extreme climate events, while others contend that wind and solar energy sources can still supply power even during severe weather,” explained Jin Zhao, Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin’s School of Engineering, who spearheaded the research.
“The unclear impact of WD-RESs on power outages has fostered skepticism regarding their implementation and, in some instances, spurred opposition to the adoption of wind and solar energy. Given the ambitious goals for integrating renewable energy sources and reducing carbon emissions in future power systems, it was crucial to enhance our understanding of how these sources influence blackouts.”
The study found that power systems with a higher proportion of WD-RESs did not show increased vulnerability to blackouts; in fact, when blackouts occurred, they were generally less severe, affecting fewer customers and resulting in lower demand loss and shorter durations in grids with more WD-RES penetration.
Moreover, while the analysis indicated that severe weather conditions can make power systems more susceptible to outages, having a high penetration of WD-RESs does not worsen this vulnerability, even when considering blackouts triggered solely by weather.
Prof. Zhao emphasized: “The key takeaway is that WD-RESs are not primarily responsible for blackouts during extreme weather events, and grids with a high integration of these sources tend to see reduced severity when outages do happen.”
“This is encouraging news for Ireland, although we are a lower-inertia island system which might be more affected than larger interconnected grids, like those seen in the US and continental Europe. Therefore, it’s essential to conduct similar focused research on our Irish power system, and that is our next step — we have recently obtained funding for this purpose.”
