Never thought I’d see the day the Economist writes an article about inertia in the electricity grid. Grid inertia is equivalent to pressure in a water pipe – when the pressure is strong enough and uniform, you get laminar flow. Same for the grid – it’s required for stability.
With the profliteraion of renewables, that inertia (thanks to behemoth spinning CCGT and coal generators) is replaced with power electronics (no inertia). Even most wind farms have AC-DC-AC conversion, so there’s no inertia there either. As the article notes, this problem can be solved by adding flywheels or repurposing coal plants to just provide inertia or new advances in grid forming inverter technology. If we want a truly renewable and carbon free energy system, we need inertia solutions sooner rather than later.
I’m all ears for innovative solutions!
