Maine Has Storage. It's a 862.7-Megawatt Plant in Yarmouth

Mainers, even with heat pumps, store heating oil for the coldest days 

Study group proposes modest goals for Maine renewable energy storage

BY TUX TURKELPRESS HERALD    
Posted January 8, 2020
 

A commission that studied the potential for projects to store excess renewable power generated in Maine has recommended that the state set a short-term goal of reaching 100 megawatts of capacity by 2025 to send an important signal to investors and developers.

The non-binding target is modest compared with what states such as Massachusetts and New York are proposing, and it doesn’t commit any state money. Still, the proposal recognizes the “value and benefits that strategic investment in energy storage can provide to energy consumers and the electrical grid,” according to the commission’s final report.

The recommendations, contained in a 16-page report, will next go the legislative committee that handles energy and utility issues.

Energy storage projects represent an emerging trend that dovetails with Maine’s ambitious plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by making a wholesale transition to renewable energy. They provide a potential power supply solution for when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.

The transmission lines connecting Maine’s far-flung renewable generators to the regional electric grid sometimes are too weak to carry all their power. When that happens, grid operators order generators to reduce output – or even stop running – to prevent overloading and jeopardizing reliable service. The practice is called curtailment.

Increased energy storage capacity in Maine would reduce curtailment and help squeeze more usable power out of existing sources of renewable energy generation.

The commission also recommended that the state create an incentive for energy storage projects that are paired with renewables such as solar and wind. That could happen by boosting the contract price for new projects shown to benefit ratepayers or the grid. It said the Governor’s Energy Office should develop and propose more robust energy storage targets as part of a future, in-depth energy storage study.

Current storage mostly takes the form of strategically placed lithium-ion batteries. The huge, shipping-container-sized units soak up and send out energy at just the right times, such as when there’s excess power being generated by a wind farm, or when there’s a surge in demand on the grid.

Maine needs to create storage if it wants to expand wind and solar farms, because the electricity they generate is a use-it-or-lose-it thing. But unlike other states, Maine has no policies or incentives to entice developers to invest in the mega-battery units. That’s why the 14-member study commission was formed to gather information last fall.

“I was excited to be appointed to lead this commission, and I truly feel the report we produced will help guide Maine in our goal toward energy independence,” said Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic. “The commission found that energy storage is an incredible emerging industry that will complement and help expand Maine’s already growing green energy industry.”

In addition, the group suggested that Maine address rate issues related to the cost of electricity at different times of the day. Wholesale power is priced higher when demand is greatest, such as on a hot summer evening. Solar farms can generate power during the day for storage, and it can be used when people come home and switch on their air conditioners.

Developers are considering several new solar farms in Maine, and a trade group that represents some of them applauded the commission’s recommendations.

“Given the upcoming contracting opportunities for large and small scale distributed generation, the ability to pair those bids with energy storage proposals for the first time will help our state to more efficiently and reliably integrate renewables into our energy mix,” said Jeremy Payne, executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association.

Reflecting that theme, the report warns that if the state fails to take the recommended “small steps” to promote energy storage, Maine ratepayers will suffer the costs.

“As the other states in New England increasingly invest in energy storage and reduce peak demand, Maine will be left carrying more peak load, resulting in more costs shifted to Maine ratepayers,” the report said.

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Comment by Willem Post on November 10, 2022 at 9:58am

COLD WEATHER IN TEXAS: During the cold period of Feb 7 to Feb 17, 2021, electricity from wind, natural gas and nuclear were impacted by the cold weather.

 

Forecasted demand was 75,000 MW, but generation fed to grid was 48,000 MW, for a shortfall of 27,000 MW, at 10 am on Feb 16, which required rolling blackouts, during freezing conditions. See image in eia URL

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=46836

 

Texas had about 34,000 MW of installed wind turbines

Texas had about 8,200 MW of installed solar systems

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Texas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Texas

 

Wind and Solar Were Unavailable When Needed: Wind decreased from 22,500 MW at 11 pm on Feb 7, to near-zero at 11 am on Feb 9; the wind decrease was counteracted by increased electricity from natural gas plants. See image in eia URL

Wind decreased from 9,500 MW at 6 pm on Feb 14, to near-zero at 9 pm on Feb 15, when electricity demand was high.

Solar never exceeded 5000 MW at midday (not of much use at other times); it was 500 MW at 1 pm on Feb 14, when electricity demand was high.

 

These articles and image are provided for reference.

.

ISO-NE REPORT OF 2021 ECONOMIC STUDY: FUTURE GRID RELIABILITY STUDY PHASE 1

https://www.iso-ne.com/static-assets/documents/2022/07/2021_economi...

 

DEEP DIVE SUMMARY OF THE ISO-NE REPORT

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-england-future-grid-study-iso/...

 

LIFE WITHOUT OIL

Life without oil means many products that are made with oil, such as the hundreds listed below, would need to be provided by wind and solar and hydro.

Folks, including Biden's attendants, wanting to get rid of fossil fuels, such as crude oil, better start doing some rethinking.

The above also applies to natural gas, which is much preferred by many industries

If you do not have abundant low-cost energy, you cannot have modern industrial economies.

APPENDIX 1

 

These articles contain significant information regarding wind, solar and grid-scale battery systems

 

GRID-SCALE BATTERY SYSTEMS IN NEW ENGLAND TO COUNTERACT SHORTFALL OF ONE-DAY WIND/SOLAR LULL

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/grid-scale-battery-sys...

COLD WEATHER OPERATION IN NEW ENGLAND DECEMBER 24, 2017 TO JANUARY 8, 2018

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/cold-weather-operation...

ANALYSIS OF WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY LULLS AND ENERGY STORAGE IN GERMANY

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/wind-and-solar-energy-...

IRELAND FUEL AND CO2 REDUCTIONS DUE TO WIND ENERGY LESS THAN CLAIMED    

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/fuel-and-co2-reduction...

BATTERY SYSTEM CAPITAL COSTS, OPERATING COSTS, ENERGY LOSSES, AND AGING

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/battery-system-capital...

HIGH COSTS OF WIND, SOLAR, AND BATTERY SYSTEMS IN US NORTHEAST

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/high-costs-of-wind-sol...

APPENDIX 2

 

These articles explain a lot about the world-wide “Climate Crisis” scam, based on highly compromised surface station measurements, which typically read HIGH.

 

Climate scientists SUBJECTIVELY adjust the readings for use in their SUBJECTIVE computerized-temperature-calculation programs, which are used in the reports of IPCC, etc., for scare-mongering purposes.

 

New Surface Stations Report Released – It’s ‘worse than we thought’

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/new-surface-stations-r...

 

Weather- Just how does it happen?

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/weather-just-how-does-...

 

A summary of the results of three “Physics of the Earth’s Atmosphere” papers, which were submitted for peer review at the Open Peer Review Journal.

https://globalwarmingsolved.com/2013/11/19/summary-the-physics-of-t...

 

APPENDIX 3

 

Satellites and balloons measure temperatures of the Troposphere, which starts at ground level, and has an average height of 59,000 ft at the tropics, 56,000 ft at the middle latitudes, and 20,000 ft at the poles. Above those levels starts the Stratosphere.

 

Balloons directly measure temperatures. Satellites measure radiation, from which temperatures are calculated. 

Both consistently measure much lower temperatures than the average of 102 computer-generated graphs.

See Appendix 2 and 3

 

The data in the below images is for a 43-y period.

There is global warming, but it is not anywhere near as much as scare-mongers are claiming.

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/grid-scale-battery-sys...

 

1) Objective satellite and balloon temperatures increased from 0.00 to 0.5 C, or, or 0.116 C/decade 

2) Subjective computer-generated temperatures increased from 0.00 to 1.20 C; or 0.28 C/decade, about 2.7 TIMES AS FAST

 

The temperature data by satellites and balloons are more accurate than land-based measurements.

See Appendix 2 and URL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UAH_satellite_temperature_dataset

Satellite measurements are made many times during every day and systematically cover almost the entire world; +/- 85-degree latitude.

The satellite data is vastly more complete, and accurate than would be gathered by ground stations. (See Appendix 2) 

 

Balloon measurements, made on a sampling basis, are vastly less complete than satellite measurements, but they serve as a useful crosscheck on the satellite measurements. 

 

NOTE: Behind the 102 computer graphs are hundreds of organizations that likely receive a significant part of their revenues from governments and subsidy-receiving wind, solar, battery, etc., businesses.

The livelihood and career prospects of the people creating these graphs is more secure, if they aim high, rather than low.

https://www.scienceunderattack.com/blog/2021/2/22/latest-computer-c...

 

A more detailed view of satellite temperatures.

APPENDIX 4

Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) and also a member of the CO2 Coalition. Sheahen and the Coalition are collaborating on a brief.

SEPP’s October 8 newsletter contains a summary of a major 2021 paper by Happer and co-author William van Wijngaarden that completely undermines the fake “science” the IPCC and EPA used to support the case of climate alarm. See URL

https://wvanwijngaarden.info.yorku.ca/files/2021/03/WPotency.pdf?x4...

Sheahen specifically discusses the efforts of Professors William van Wijngaarden and William Happer in their pioneering work in calculating the real-world Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) of the five most common Green-House Gases (GHGs).

Sheahan explains why the approach used by IPCC is faulty, but nonetheless used by its followers, such as the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the EPA.

These faulty methods lead to great exaggeration of the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide, methane, and other minor greenhouse gases.

Sheahan shows the stunning agreement between the calculations of van Wijngaarden and Happer (W & H) with satellite measurements (and balloon measurements) of outgoing infrared radiation emitted by the earth to space . . .

Sheahan claims, because of the exceptionally good agreement between observational data and the calculations of W & H, we can conclude the W&H model has been validated.

The W&H model embodies the scientific method, i.e., it is reasonable to use it to study other hypothetical cases.

It is not possible to do so with IPCC models, which have never achieved agreement with observations. 

See Appendix 3

The gist of the H&W work is the greenhouse effect of CO2 in the atmosphere is almost entirely saturated, such that any additional CO2 can have almost no additional warming effect.

Here is a chart prepared by Sheahan to illustrate the H&W results.

As atmospheric CO2 increases, say from 380 to 420 ppm; the-40 ppm increase has about 0.05C warming effect.

As atmospheric CO2 increases, say from 20 to 60 ppm; the 40-ppm increase has about a 0.5C warming effect.

Comment by Willem Post on November 7, 2022 at 6:46am

Tux Turkey,

It would be best for your pocket book and standard of living, if you stopped shilling for wind, solar and batteries, all of which would make New England much less competitive in US and world markets, much to the delight of competitors 

You and you family would hardly be able to afford to live in Maine.

U.S. Sen Angus King

THE UNTOLD STORY OF RECORD HILL WIND

The Untold Story of Record Hill Wind, continued

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

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 -- Mahatma Gandhi

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Vince Lombardi 

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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