An Unlikely Clean Energy Combo: CCS and Variable Renewables
How flexible power and hydrogen production with CO2 capture can enable greater shares of wind and solar power.
The impressive cost reductions of wind and solar energy has generated great enthusiasm around the future of renewable energy. But these attractive clean energy technologies pose an important fundamental challenge:
They only produce power when the wind blows or the sun shines.
A lot of research is ongoing to develop mechanisms for balancing the variable output of wind and solar power. Any such method must either:
- Produce power mostly when there is little wind and sun
- Consume or transmit power mostly when there is a lot of wind and sun
For this reason, any mechanism for balancing variable renewable energy (VRE) inherently faces low utilization rates. And when a reasonable discount rate (time-value of money) is applied, capacity under-utilization becomes very costly even for mild capital costs.
This is a particularly important challenge for low-carbon power plants like nuclear, coal or gas with CO2 capture and storage (CCS), and biomass.
