My UK energy provider says my electricity is produced with 100% renewables, so I presume water, wind, solar. So why am I affected by such big increases in electricity charges (price per kWh)?
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Renewables biggest problem is that they don’t always produce. There are times there is not enough wind, night, cloudy days, the water reservoirs being too low. So during these times natural gas is used to compensate.
How it works that the electricity provide you choose, provides to the in a periods of time the amount of energy their customers use.
Remember it doesn’t matter where the power comes to the grid, it doesn’t know, it doesn’t discriminate, it is all just potential in the grid. Much like a water tower doesn’t know which bucket was poured in to it.
So when renewable production goes down, gas and other fuels need to be brought online. However when renewables produce extra other power sources can be reduced. Even nuclear power (In reactors that meet European standards (Not EU)) can be adjust at the rate of 3-5% of the primary capacity in minute.
This will be the case as long as we have sufficient energy storage in whatever means it is in, that can handle the average margin of renewable energy.
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