{"id":99399,"date":"2022-08-02T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/?p=99399"},"modified":"2022-07-26T10:56:38","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T14:56:38","slug":"batachable-computing-solution-to-interconnection-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/2022\/08\/batachable-computing-solution-to-interconnection-delays\/","title":{"rendered":"Frustrated by interconnection delays? Batchable computing provides a solution
Green data centers can play a pivotal role in absorbing excess energy and enabling renewable projects to get built.<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Phillip Ng, VP of corporate development, Soluna<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Our energy grid is inflexible. It was built a century ago for a different country and a different energy economy. Integrating this system with new intermittent generation has been challenging, to say the least. The result is frequent times of over-saturation of renewables, but still relying on carbon-producing assets to solve for on-peak demand.<\/p>\n

Our lofty, necessary goal to decarbonize the grid will only be realized if we make renewable sources economically viable and modernize both grid and demand to the generation profile of renewable energy.<\/p>\n

On top of renewable energy\u2019s intermittent generation, solar and wind, unlike fossil fuels, cannot yet be reliably stockpiled for later deployment.<\/a><\/p>\n

The result: demand must become more flexible to solve this mismatch.<\/p>\n

Supply exceeding demand means curtailment, aka wasted energy. In 2021, an estimated 14.9 TWh of otherwise viable renewable energy was curtailed. This is the equivalent of $610 million in lost revenue, or enough energy to power the city of Chicago for a year.<\/a><\/p>\n

This problem is compounding as renewables increase their market share of new generation. Furthermore, unless we can create more flexible demand, marginal solar and wind energy will not help increase the net capacity on the grid:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"

Penetration of wind is the X axis; Utility to the grid measured by capacity credit is the Y axis. As penetration increases, marginal utility decreases. Source: Lori Bird, M Milligan, and Debra Lew. 2013. Integrating Variable Renewable Energy: Challenges and Solutions. Technical Report. NREL.<\/p><\/div>\n

Based on our analysis, looking at IPP production data, we estimate that up to 40% of energy generated by individual solar and wind farms goes to waste. This creates a massive economic strain on these power producers. It also prevents new projects from being built in areas that are rich in wind and solar resources.<\/p>\n

Batteries and transmission offer long-term solutions to curtailment, but are not sufficient to tackle this challenge for a number of reasons:<\/p>\n