# Renewable energy and the Californian continuity conundrum

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/renewable-energy-and-the-californian-continuity-conundrum/412855422
- Published: 2020-09-02T15:35:09+01:00
- Author: Amilia Stone

This week, California’s challenges with power continuity have been thrust into the
media. While service reliability in the US isn’t a widespread issue, weather events
are known to be a common cause of outages and interruptions. In California this 
month, where a heatwave has resulted in high demand for air conditioning, the grid
is struggling to maintain a constant supply of electricity across the state.

On August 14th, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) declared a statewide
Stage 2 Emergency, stating that excessive heat had driven up electricity use and
put a strain on the grid. After a natural gas unit tripped offline, the ISO issued
a Stage 3 Electrical Emergency, implementing rolling blackouts in order to achieve
overall grid reliability – a strategy designed to reduce the likelihood of uncontrolled
blackouts.

As well as causing a strain on demand, the extreme heat and increased reliance on
air conditioning put additional stress on generators. An article in Bloomberg Green
states that California grid operators cited the failure of a 500-megawatt generator,
which tripped offline unexpectedly during peak demand hours Friday, as well as a
750-megawatt unit that was out of service didn’t return until after the peak hit.
If both had been in service, a spokesperson is quoted as saying, then the grid operators
wouldn’t have had to call for outages.

> **For Paul Brickman, Sales and Marketing Director at Cresthic Loadbanks, the situation
> in California highlights the fact that renewables bring with them a certain level
> of risk. Paul explains,** “For many years now, California, like many other states,
> cities and countries, has been committed to moving towards a greener future. It
> currently gets around 1/3 of its power from solar, wind and other renewable sources,
> with a push to increase this percentage hugely in the coming years. While the 
> aim is commendable, the reality is that the transition could mean a fragile and
> less reliable electricity supply for years to come.”

As experts in the manufacture and supply of load bank technology – which is used
to test and maintain back-up generators – the company has seen an uptick in demand
for backup generators, which are vital standby power sources for applications that
use renewables. However, explains Paul, citing the recent generator failure which
contributed to this month’s blackouts across the state of California, generators
need to be 100% reliable, or they’re not worth having.

> “The real issue here is reliability” **Paul explains. **“When the sun fades and
> the wind drops, power generation also wanes. While there is a lot of R&D time 
> and money being invested in technologies designed to store surplus power, they
> aren’t available yet. But, when the sun sets, solar output plummets and the warm
> evenings mean demand remains high, there is a discrepancy between supply and demand.
> It is the fragility of these renewables that creates a dependence on reliable 
> back-up.”

Balancing supply and demand for variable sources of power is a known issue. Wind
farms, solar plants and renewable energy facilities all use generators as a reliable
source of backup power – for when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine!
Yet, when gensets are installed for back-up power generators in the event of an 
undersupply, it is absolutely critical that they actually work when called upon.

> **Paul continues,** “It’s widely established that having backup power is critical.
> Yet, wherever there is standby power, there is also a need for a loadbank – a 
> device that is used to create an electrical load which imitates the operational
> or ‘real’ load that a generator would use under operational conditions. The loadbank
> is used to test, support, or protect a critical backup power source and ensure
> that it is fit for purpose in the event that it needed. By testing and maintaining
> the system using a resistive reactive load bank, users can get a clear picture
> of how well an entire system will withstand changes in load patterns while experiencing
> the level of power that would typically be encountered.”
> **Paul concludes** “The increase in renewable energy generation brings with it
> a risk of fluctuations, which has undoubtedly lead to more sites wanting generators.
> However, simply having them on site isn’t enough. The only way to guarantee the
> reliability of backup gensets is to test them often. Test them properly. Test 
> them with a loadbank. Failing to do so is a sure route to unplanned downtime.”

For more information on loadbanks and the critical role of testing, visit www.crestchicloadbanks.
com

_Northbridge Industrial Services ([LON:NBI](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/company/crestchic/load.l))
has two core activities, Crestchic Loadbanks and Tasman Oil Tools. Crestchic is 
a specialist electrical equipment business which manufactures, sells and rents loadbanks
and transformers from its base in Burton on Trent and has depots in France, Germany,
Belgium, UAE and Singapore. Crestchic also has satellite locations in China and 
the USA._

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