For a few minutes on Sunday, solar energy supplied more than half of Australia’s power generation, marking the first time that solar has outstripped coal in a country long dependent on fossil fuels to produce electricity, The Guardian reported.
For a few minutes on Sunday, solar energy supplied more than half of Australia’s power generation, marking the first time that solar has outstripped coal in a country long dependent on fossil fuels to produce electricity, The Guardian reported.
Renewables fare better during shoulder seasons, when there is little demand for heating and cooling, and sunny weather yields ample solar energy. On Sunday, renewables briefly provided 57 percent of the country’s electricity generation, The Guardian reported. In South Australia, wind and solar met 100 percent of energy demand.
The power supply from all sources so outstripped demand that prices went negative, meaning producers had to pay to continue running. Coal plants typically pay these costs rather than shut down, given the expense of stopping and starting power production. Wind producers face a different calculus, and many ramped down power generation on Sunday to avoid the added costs. Had prices not gone negative, renewables would have supplied an even larger share of the country’s power, The Guardian reported.
Read more at: Yale Environment 360
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