Comment Re:Who has the most energy and engineers? (Score 1) 105
"But what do you do when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining"
Copilot:
Here is the plainâ'ASCII reply you asked for, with no intro text, ready to paste into Slashdot:
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If you look at the BPA generation graphs (https://transmission.bpa.gov/Business/Operations/Wind/baltwg.aspx), the intermittency question is mostly irrelevant for the Pacific Northwest. Wind and solar are small contributors compared to hydropower. Hydro is by far the dominant renewable resource in the region, and BPA routinely curtails hydro output because available capacity exceeds demand on a daily basis.
Hydropower is fully dispatchable, so when wind output drops or the sun is not available, hydro simply ramps to fill the gap. This is already how the grid operates. The limiting factor in the Northwest is not a shortage of renewable generation, but the need to spill water because there is more hydro capacity than the system can use at once.
BPA also exports large amounts of power to other states, including California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and others. Even with those exports, hydro capacity still exceeds regional demand.
So the "what do you do when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining" question does not really apply to a grid where hydro is the primary resource and is regularly curtailed due to oversupply.