This blog post is pretty short, but here’s a quote from the BBC article it links to: … … In another article, we talked about a report that France sometimes has a surplus, too. Maybe they should...
This blog post is pretty short, but here’s a quote from the BBC article it links to:
Even though the Spanish economy has bounced back strongly from the trauma of the Covid pandemic, and is growing faster than all of the bloc’s other big economies, electricity consumption has been dropping in recent years.
Last year, demand for electricity was even below that seen in the pandemic year 2020, and the lowest since 2003.
…
Concerns about Spain having an excess of electricity have led to discussion of the need to accelerate the "electrification" of the economy, which involves moving it away from fossil fuels. The Sánchez government has set a target of making 34% of the economy reliant on electricity by 2030.
…
Shifting to a total reliance on electricity is seen as unrealistic, as some important sectors like chemicals and metals will find the transition difficult.
However, Mr Donoso and others see plenty of scope for swifter electrification. For example, Spain is trailing many of its European neighbours when it comes to the installation of heat pumps in homes, and the use of electric cars, which only make up around 6% of vehicles on the road.
Ms Pizzinato agrees that electrification is crucial, but says there are other ways of tackling the supply-demand quandary, including phasing out the use of nuclear plants more quickly, and increasing energy storage capability.
In another article, we talked about a report that France sometimes has a surplus, too.
My own personal bias here but surely electrifying in the way the article mentions would be a better step in a nation that will have high AC costs to the individual than adding more commercial uses...
My own personal bias here but surely electrifying in the way the article mentions would be a better step in a nation that will have high AC costs to the individual than adding more commercial uses that could push the price up for less benefit to the individual? It's hard to gauge knock on effects though what with more well paying data center jobs in a nation with high youth unemployment though.
Once upon a time, I remember entropy being the reason why electrical cables transferring solar energy from inland United States couldn't effectively be used to power the populated coast. Is this...
Once upon a time, I remember entropy being the reason why electrical cables transferring solar energy from inland United States couldn't effectively be used to power the populated coast. Is this the reason why Spain and France can't sell power to Germany's starving grid?
...or is it simply the same problem - Germany infrastructure, like Spain, doesn't have enough uses for green electricity?
They can, and do, do that. Its why despite these articles about individual countries veing starved for energy, everyone still has energy. The EU is all interconnected and neighboring countries pay...
They can, and do, do that. Its why despite these articles about individual countries veing starved for energy, everyone still has energy. The EU is all interconnected and neighboring countries pay eachother for the relative deficit they have on production.
But, thats still a problem for your individual country if you are consistently needing your neighbor to keep your lights running.
Plus having to do that means you are concentrating this big power distribution across borders between more interconnected local grids, which creates chokepoints on making that transfer.
This blog post is pretty short, but here’s a quote from the BBC article it links to:
…
…
In another article, we talked about a report that France sometimes has a surplus, too.
Maybe they should build more data centers?
My own personal bias here but surely electrifying in the way the article mentions would be a better step in a nation that will have high AC costs to the individual than adding more commercial uses that could push the price up for less benefit to the individual? It's hard to gauge knock on effects though what with more well paying data center jobs in a nation with high youth unemployment though.
Or maybe they should expand the power transmission grid to countries without as much renewable energy (or have dams that can be filled).
Once upon a time, I remember entropy being the reason why electrical cables transferring solar energy from inland United States couldn't effectively be used to power the populated coast. Is this the reason why Spain and France can't sell power to Germany's starving grid?
...or is it simply the same problem - Germany infrastructure, like Spain, doesn't have enough uses for green electricity?
They can, and do, do that. Its why despite these articles about individual countries veing starved for energy, everyone still has energy. The EU is all interconnected and neighboring countries pay eachother for the relative deficit they have on production.
But, thats still a problem for your individual country if you are consistently needing your neighbor to keep your lights running.
Plus having to do that means you are concentrating this big power distribution across borders between more interconnected local grids, which creates chokepoints on making that transfer.