Quote:
Originally Posted by sneaker
Too bad we can't just turn them off as quickly as the sun comes out. So the regular plants still run and we just waste money.
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Not quite how it works, actually. There 3 load types. Structurally, most renewable sources are baseload (I think it may all be sold as baseload in Europe). Baseload naturally fluctuates, some fluctuations are secheduled, some aren't. Excess from baseload can be adjusted for by peakers and intermediates (to a lesser degree). A lot of forecasting and trading goes into balancing the grid.
But this is also why renewable sources are not yet a plausible answer for an entire centralized grid. Running everything efficiently off of baseload is impossible...at least, as long as demand-side control is politically unfeasible...