electrical reserve drops to 4%

[moggy1968]

well well well, energy reserves are due to drop to 4% as coal fired stations have to be shut down due to EEC regulations on energy polution

didn't see that one coming did we (err, yes actually!!)

DECC say reserves are 'adequate'. but then they would!

So what next?

energy price rises?
Massive Government investment into renewable energy production by the big 6, even though they should be paying for R&D from their own pockets?
More nuclear stations paid for by the public purse when it should be paid for by the energy companies who have been too intent on filling their own faces instead of investing for years?
energy switch offs in industry as demand exceeds supply?
All of the above?

 

[Ian-LS]

huge investment on new gas fired power stations if George Osbourne has his way

 

[FB.]

The law of supply and demand will kick in.

Reduced supply means higher prices.

If electricity generation was such a profitable business, we'd be seeing money pouring into investment in new power stations in the same way as money poured into solar by rent-a-roof companies looking for megabucks from high Feed-in-Tariff's at the expense of bill payers.
The fact that our power stations may soon be inadequate to meet demand suggests that margins just aren't high enough to encourage investment.

British Gas - Centrica parent company - a generator and retailer of electricity had a net operating margin of around 6% in the last year. How many businesses would bother to keep going where the profit margin was so small? Why bother to spend billions investing in power stations which may be constantly affected by changes in government policy (renewables....er no gas.....er no.....nuclear.....er no....let's import it) when the profit margin is so tiny?

For what it's worth, I've recently been selling a lot of my shares in utility companies because I feel that soon they will be stuck between a rock and a hard place. I've pulled my money (and others may do too) because I can find much better opportunities for investment. In fact, I'd rather add a (subsidised) solar array than buy shares in the utility companies as I think solar on my roof will be more profitable and much less risky than being a shareholder and part-owner of a big utility company.
Of course: subsidies - something for nothing at someone else's expense - will tend to make "investments" more attractive.

 

[methley]

What we need now are more options for stand-alone switchover solutions in case of power cuts (like Sunny Island). Not much use having your own generator in times of power cut if it turns itself off at the same time!

 

[SolarRoofSols]

I heard the tail end of this on the radio but can't find a link to a news site with this reported on anywhere - can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

[HandySparks]

Hmm. If we go back to rolling power cuts (wasn't it the miners strike?), then I may have to resurrect my plan to fit a good sized inverter to the van and a change over switch to the CU tails. Then I can plug the house into the van and keep everything going on diesel if necessary.

 

[whinmoor]

I heard the tail end of this on the radio but can't find a link to a news site with this reported on anywhere - can anyone point me in the right direction?

Take your pick:

Britain faces risk of blackouts, warns Ofgem - Telegraph
BBC News - Power shortage risks by 2015, Ofgem warns
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...015-Ofgem-report-warns.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

 

[FB.]

Hmm. If we go back to rolling power cuts (wasn't it the miners strike?), then I may have to resurrect my plan to fit a good sized inverter to the van and a change over switch to the CU tails. Then I can plug the house into the van and keep everything going on diesel if necessary.

I picked up a couple of sensibly-priced 3kW building site generators a few years back; SDMO SH3000 and Pramac E4000 (both are models with the extra-large fuel tanks) which could be useful for giving the solar inverter a jumpstart.

 

[methley]

In seriousness, would this work? Is the output of a generator stable enough? Anyone care to try it?....

 

[Eco Deal]

All those young playstation 2 owners will not be happy when they are in the middle of a call of duty online combat and the power flicks off !!!!

 

[FB.]

In seriousness, would this work? Is the output of a generator stable enough? Anyone care to try it?....

Works well enough for my local kebab man's trailer.

If my solar was disconnected from the grid and if I had a suitable load to absorb the power I don't see why not.

 

[FB.]

All those young playstation 2 owners will not be happy when they are in the middle of a call of duty online combat and the power flicks off !!!!

Time to stock up on board games and candles then.
Anyone for monopoly? I like being the boat. An ex-girlfriend of mine from many years ago used to be the dog.

 

[methley]

Works well enough for my local kebab man's trailer....

Eh? I'm asking if a solar inverter would fire up if fed by a domestic petrol/diesel generator - is the output waveform and voltage stable enough?

 

[Earthstore]

FB, I do not think that a generator gives a stable enough sine wave to be compatible with an inverter on a PV system,also the PV could backfeed the generator which would not be a good idea. Maybe a battery and an inverter may do the job, but it may then cause problems if you are producing more power than you are using, also if a cloud pops over you may not be producing enough power.

It is not so simple, sorry.

 

[nowty]

For us people with off grid / hybrid systems it is easy peasy, my off grid circuits would continue to operate and I could re-configure my grid tie inverter to run in off grid mode in a couple of minutes and another few minutes to re-wire my grid tied circuits to my off grid circuits. When you have a Sunny Island unit in the system with Sunny Boy inverters its no problem.