More solar increases need for natural gas power plants

#windfarm #renewable #green

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Alternative energy sources are becoming more important to San Diego County, but natural gas continues to play a vital role. That’s why new power plants must be flexible and efficient.

Only 14 percent of the electricity San Diego Gas & Electric Co. distributes comes from green sources, and a similar amount comes from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

That means more than two-thirds of our power comes from fossil fuels, and that’s overwhelmingly natural gas.

The state is on an aggressive schedule to install solar panels, build wind farms and get more power from geothermal plants — which use underground heat to produce electricity. The goal is to get 20 percent of power from non-fossil-fuel sources by the end of the year and 33 percent in 10 years.

Believe it or not, that increases the need for gas plants.

When a cloud goes over a solar farm or the wind dies down, a gas plant has to kick it up a notch to make up the difference.

“People need to understand the intermittency challenge we have,” said SDG&E’s Niggli. “The wind comes and goes, and on the hottest days of the year, there’s no wind, and you still need to provide power to your customers … These resources are not under our control, but under the control of nature.”

Gas plants can take up the slack.
Source: Sign On San Diego

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Jim Marston, director of energy programs for the Environmental Defense Fund says natural gas plants are complementary to “green” energy sources.

But “green” energy sources are really supplementary to regular power plants.

Novel idea for liberals: No wind for wind turbines. No power. No sun for solar plants. No power.

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