Alex RussellApr 14

Update: I was wrong! Thanks to @Edent for setting me straight:

https://mastodon.social/@Edent/116405498905247851

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Look, I don't want to call UK policymakers "cowards", exactly, but the idea that this is the response, rather than creating public financing for the installation of batteries (e.g.) is *nuts*:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/14/uk-households-power-renewables-soar

Great Britain households to be urged to use more power this summer as renewables soar

Incentives to absorb surplus wind and solar energy could help balance the grid and lower bills

The Guardian
Show threadwlach

@slightlyoff FWIW, this makes a lot of sense to me. Why not provide incentives to match demand to supply, especially when supply is cheap?

Batteries are great too of course, but I think periodic oversupply is basically a given during the summer months. I've found this paper insightful:

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/02/15/curtailment-is-not-the-enemy/

Curtailment is not the enemy

A new report by IEA-PVPS Task 16 looks at the use of "implicit storage" to transform intermittent renewable sources such as solar and wind into firm power generation. It shows that the total cost of the electricity system transformation could be lowered with the optimal use of capacity overbuilding and dynamic curtailment.

pv magazine International
Apr 14 at 9:01pmWeb