Earlier quoted context omitted.
To nitpick, Switzerland is not part of Europe.
It isn't? I didn't realized that we've moved...
You can thank CERN for that and the mirror-black-hole they created ;)
Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
221–230 of 451 posts
Re: Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
#222I read the whole thread. At one point he goes on and on how France is shaky because their nuclear plants are offline caused by corrosion issues etc. On the very next tweet he blasts Germany for prematurely shutting down "the most reliable energy source nuclear". Well if they're reliable, why is France in this world of hurt right now? I agree about one thing, and that it really is a perfect storm of issues, and that t…
> Well if they're reliable, why is France in this world of hurt right now?
This an exceedingly intellectually lazy argument which shows that you're either horribly biased (and never engaged with the reading material properly) or didn't even spend a minute thinking through what you're asking. It's somewhere on the level of "well, why is there snow in New York if global warming is happening HUUUUH?!".
(Not to mention that the French nukes are in process of being started already.)
Re: Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
Multiple gas pipelines from Russia are closed because European governments refuse to allow them to run. That's gas sanctions, why do you argue otherwise? For example Germany refuses to open Nord Stream 2, and Nord Stream 1 is broken due to sanctions on equipment repair - the turbines are made by Siemens and several are sitting in UK factories unable to be re-exported back due to sanctions. Although the troubles with…
You have quite the nerve to spread these falsehoods here, and then claim it's Europe that is the unreliable partner. Amazing and supremely twisted. I have no interest in discussing this with you as you're not here with good intentions, but I would let others know that Western countries were very accommodating with the spare parts, which in practice called the Russian bluff. I doubt Germany will go back to Russian gas…
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Re: Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
#224Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let‘s see. France heats with incredibly inefficient wall heaters. In any case, this winter is very special. It‘s not a good example to make an argument for one technology or another. Long-term I think Germany is better prepared. A lot of work has been going into heat pumps, properly isolating houses, renewables and so on.
If you already have a system where everybody uses electricity in house warming its far, far, far (and lots more fars) easier to switch to heat pumps while in Germany lots of houses have gas/oil heating. Going from that to heat pumps is 100x more difficult and costly. France is in a much better situation. Better isolation, heat pumps are technology independent, you just need reliable electricity.
Switching from electric heaters to heat pumps is very easy for the grid, but not at all easy in existing homes. Central heating needs water pipes, which traditional electric heating doesn't have. Adding the pipes is going to be a major hassle.
I'm not sure if there is a major difference in insulation. Old houses are in Germany are not great, new houses usually are, and it's probably the same in France.
Re: Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
Solar installers here in the UK have literal years of backlog and are either not returning calls or quoting installation dates in 2024.
Doesn't UK weather make solar a bad idea?
Ever-dropping prices for solar panels are slowly making it economically feasible where it used to be a bad idea.
According to https://uk.renogy.com/blog/what-is-the-average-payback-perio... the payback time is now around 12-18 years, which is worse than here in Germany (I did a calculation for a small 600W installation in my area, and it came back with 8 years), but still better than the expected life time (20-25 years). This data is from 2021, maybe rising energy prices will lower the amortization time.
In general, smaller installations have lower amortization times, because the higher percentage of power produced that you consume yourself (and you pay more for a kWh than you get for selling one).
Re: Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
#226I read the whole thread. At one point he goes on and on how France is shaky because their nuclear plants are offline caused by corrosion issues etc. On the very next tweet he blasts Germany for prematurely shutting down "the most reliable energy source nuclear". Well if they're reliable, why is France in this world of hurt right now? I agree about one thing, and that it really is a perfect storm of issues, and that t…
> Well if they're reliable, why is France in this world of hurt right now? This an exceedingly intellectually lazy argument which shows that you're either horribly biased (and never engaged with the reading material properly) or didn't even spend a minute thinking through what you're asking. It's somewhere on the level of "well, why is there snow in New York if global warming is happening HUUUUH?!". (Not to mention t…
Erm, EDF. I'm in favour of nuclear, but EDF/Hinckley Point are how not to do it (I think the only residential consumers they have left have failed to do any sort of shopping around/don't care about the cost - very possibly different for business/vested interests).
Re: Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
#227Here is what Switzerland is doing at the moment to prevent the worst case which would be rolling black outs. They are planning for the worst case so they don't get caught with their pants down. This includes: - Currently trying to fill as many reservoirs as possible - Securing gas in foreign reservoirs. - Plan for emergency gas plants that can be operational by January/February, the time Switzerland has the least ele…
Additionally there are preparations to temporarily suspend noise/pollution legislation that forbids backup power generators to run for more than 50 hours a year [0]. While the current idea is to only exempt sites (around 300 sites, 250 MW installed capacity) that are already used by SwissGrid for Ancillary Services [1], there is political pressure to temporarily include all sites with installed backup power generators (> 4 GW).
If even a fraction of this installed capacity would run in times of shortages, this should further reduce demand without causing disruption on industrial production or even having to schedule rolling blackouts.
[0] (German) https://www.srf.ch/news/wirtschaft/drohende-energiekrise-str...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancillary_services_(electric_p...
Re: Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
#228It’s hard to be sympathetic when this situation was so obvious and preventable. This is what short term greed and irresponsible governance looks like.
Us Europeans can still look at Texas, if we want to know how it is properly done, can't we?
The intention of your comment appears solely to deflect, however what happened in Texas and what is happening in the EU right now are not even remotely comparable. The cause of the Texas grid failure in February 2021 was a Winter storm and a poor decision to cut power to parts to the parts of the supply chain that powered the natural gas infrastructure. The problem was not the result of not having the energy supplies. This has actually been well-documented.[1][2].
The real irony of your comment however is that you are actually looking to Texas now. The EU is now relying in large part on the US for LNG and much of the LNG is being shipped from the Gulf Coast in Texas. The majority of the US excess natural gas supply is now being shipped to Europe. As of April that was 74%. [3]. I'm guessing it's even more now.
[1] https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/18/texas-winter-storm-b...
[2] https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/15/texas-power-grid-win...
Re: Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
The key thing to remember is that Russia reduced the gas supply to Europe already one year ago. Way before they invaded Ukraine, and therefor before any of the recent sanctions. It is assumed that Russia sent a warning message to EU countries not to interfere. Fortunately, most EU countries recognized that Russia was no longer a reliable supplier. And imposed sanctions, delivered weapons anyhow. Russia thought they c…
I think you are reading way too many one sided sources. The Russians are selling more to China and India since the war. The higher price of gas means in the short run they are making more money. Yes, some sanctions might be annoying, in the way a mosquito is annoying to you, but basically nothing europe has done has really had an impact. (Most weapons have come from the US). So while parts of what you say is true, fr…
Yes, Russia is selling a little bit more to China and India. Not nearly enough to make up for the reduction in sales to EU countries. In addition, China and India get nice discounts.
Yes, Russia makes a lot more money at the moment because the small amount of gas they still sell to EU countries is expensive enough that it nets more money.
Anybody who has been following the war a bit will notice that Russia is now seriously running out of modern weapons. By the time tanks from the early 60s show up at the front line, you can be sure something is wrong. At the moment, and due sanctions, Russia has a bit of a production problem.
Since the 2014 sanctions, Russia has a bit a problem with obtaining micro-electronics. The effects of that are also quite noticeable.
In any case. Over the summer, EU countries managed to fill their gas storage while producing enough electricity to keep most stuff running. So yes, the situation is bad for the economy and EU countries have to figure how to help people pay their energy bill, etc. But if the current situation is 'terrible' then I wonder what word has to be used for a real disaster.
Re: Europe is in danger of rolling electricity shortages
#230Quoted post unavailable.
Why do comments like these only pop up on articles that highlight problems in europe? I never see them in the hundreds of articles per month that focus on the US. It's weird because that is exactly the type of comment you used to read from fragile patriotic americans that were unable to handle any criticism back in the early 2000s, but this time from europeans.
>Why do comments like these only pop up on articles that highlight problems in europe?
Probably because the US is a net exporter of energy and is not in danger of running out of fuel during the winter like most of Europe is.