Many nations in Southeast Asia began significantly ramping up import volumes in the early 2010s as domestic gas reserves dwindled. Thailand led the push. The country built two major import terminals and took steps to liberalize its domestic gas market. By 2022, natural gas generated more than half its electricity, with L.N.G. accounting for nearly a quarter of that supply — up from just 2 percent in 2011, according to data from the Asia Pacific Energy Research Center, a research organization in Tokyo.
The Russia-Ukraine war dented confidence in L.N.G. When Moscow cut pipeline supplies to Europe in 2022, wealthy European nations pivoted to the global L.N.G. market, often outbidding developing Asian economies. The resulting shortages forced countries to curb imports and endure rolling blackouts. In Thailand, electricity rates rose to record highs, prompting the government to postpone the retirement of coal-fired units at the Mae Moh power plant.
[...]
Four years later, the pattern is repeating. This month, the Thai government ordered coal-fired power plants to operate at full capacity and began tapping heavily into a state energy-subsidy fund to help absorb price shocks.
With ships being rerouted, “it’s once again widening economic disparities between the richer countries and the emerging economies,” said Dinita Setyawati, an Indonesian-based senior energy analyst at Ember, a think tank.
In Bangladesh, utilities have begun significantly increasing their use of coal to create electricity since the start of the war in Iran, data from Bangladesh’s state-owned company responsible for electricity transmission show.
Supply disruptions are causing problems in Asia’s most developed economies as well. Taiwan’s economy ministry said this month that it would be prepared to buy more L.N.G. from the United States and restart its retired Hsinta coal-fired power plant if supply disruptions persisted through April. South Korea is also preparing to boost nuclear and coal-fired power generation to offset volatility in oil and L.N.G. supply, its industry minister said last week.
Most countries are already doing that, renewables are cheaper on a pay kWh basis than fossil production. The problem with renewables now is the lack of momentum they can provide to the grid. This...
Most countries are already doing that, renewables are cheaper on a pay kWh basis than fossil production.
The problem with renewables now is the lack of momentum they can provide to the grid.
This energy crisis might speed up investments into renewables but I hope there’s more work put towards figuring out reliable ways to produce momentum
I've been hearing about the momentum problem for a while, but as a software engineer who dabbles in power electronics to a somewhat advanced degree, I just don't believe it. I don't see how it...
I've been hearing about the momentum problem for a while, but as a software engineer who dabbles in power electronics to a somewhat advanced degree, I just don't believe it. I don't see how it could be anything more than slightly different firmware on the same hardware. I'd love to talk to an engineer in the industry about it
On the other hand, my rice maker has an RTC clock, a 15¢ component, to make sure my rice comes out great even if the power cuts out. But my built-in stove, many times more expensive, does not. So I can definitely see this as a problem that's arose out of carelessness.
You should read the final report of the Iberian blackout from last year. The problem is not so much firmware on individual inverters but figuring out a way to get it to work gridscale without...
You should read the final report of the Iberian blackout from last year.
The problem is not so much firmware on individual inverters but figuring out a way to get it to work gridscale without causing issues. One large cause of the blackout was grid following solar inverters.
I think that's easier said than done. The title immediately reminded me of this very detailed comment explaining how messed up Japan's electrical grid is. It was specifically addressing why Japan...
I think that's easier said than done. The title immediately reminded me of this very detailed comment explaining how messed up Japan's electrical grid is. It was specifically addressing why Japan is choosing to focus on converting to hydrogen, but the first point of the TL;DR is "Busted electrical grid that will cost trillions to renovate, severely limiting your ability to mass deploy renewables to benefit industry and major population centers". That one bullet point alone is a big enough obstacle against turning to renewables.
I don't know about the state of other countries' infrastructures, but I suspect most of them have also already long been investigating alternative energy options. There are probably similar economic barriers that aren't easy to overcome.
to be fair, afaik Japan's electrical grid is uniquely fucked up in a number of ways that don't necessarily hold true for most other countries. Not all of its problems are unique, but a lot of the...
to be fair, afaik Japan's electrical grid is uniquely fucked up in a number of ways that don't necessarily hold true for most other countries. Not all of its problems are unique, but a lot of the specifics and the combination thereof are from what I'm told.
From the article:
[...]
Hopefully, this triggers society to have some clarity of thought and start turning to renewables
Most countries are already doing that, renewables are cheaper on a pay kWh basis than fossil production.
The problem with renewables now is the lack of momentum they can provide to the grid.
This energy crisis might speed up investments into renewables but I hope there’s more work put towards figuring out reliable ways to produce momentum
I've been hearing about the momentum problem for a while, but as a software engineer who dabbles in power electronics to a somewhat advanced degree, I just don't believe it. I don't see how it could be anything more than slightly different firmware on the same hardware. I'd love to talk to an engineer in the industry about it
On the other hand, my rice maker has an RTC clock, a 15¢ component, to make sure my rice comes out great even if the power cuts out. But my built-in stove, many times more expensive, does not. So I can definitely see this as a problem that's arose out of carelessness.
You should read the final report of the Iberian blackout from last year.
The problem is not so much firmware on individual inverters but figuring out a way to get it to work gridscale without causing issues. One large cause of the blackout was grid following solar inverters.
I think that's easier said than done. The title immediately reminded me of this very detailed comment explaining how messed up Japan's electrical grid is. It was specifically addressing why Japan is choosing to focus on converting to hydrogen, but the first point of the TL;DR is "Busted electrical grid that will cost trillions to renovate, severely limiting your ability to mass deploy renewables to benefit industry and major population centers". That one bullet point alone is a big enough obstacle against turning to renewables.
I don't know about the state of other countries' infrastructures, but I suspect most of them have also already long been investigating alternative energy options. There are probably similar economic barriers that aren't easy to overcome.
to be fair, afaik Japan's electrical grid is uniquely fucked up in a number of ways that don't necessarily hold true for most other countries. Not all of its problems are unique, but a lot of the specifics and the combination thereof are from what I'm told.