What does “waiting to connect to the grid” actually mean? Why are those conditions tolerated by the folks who build the solar farms? If it’s what I infer, it’s like starting a chicken ranch to sell eggs and chickens as consumer food products without having any customers. Except, however, that unused (unsold?) electrical power doesn’t pile up like unsold eggs and chicken carcasses. What am I missing?
It means completed projects as well as those under construction that do not have a time frame for when they can connect and supply electricity to the grid. Much of this is due to delays in grid upgrades, including adding new transmission lines, as well as finalizing connection agreements (i.e. pricing). Governments have set renewable targets, and companies have built and are building projects to meet the targets.
Saying there are the solar field output equivalents of 1,000 nuclear powered generation facilities sitting idle doesn’t make logical sense. Why would anyone build out a solar field knowing there will not be a revenue stream for an indefinite period of time?
Unless, the solar field builder/owner is a utility company building the backbone for a much larger system that requires years to complete.
Or, there are extraordinary tax incentives to build out an idle solar field and wait for the grid connections.
If those conditions apply, your article is a bit misleading.
If those conditions don’t apply, the “why would anyone build an idle solar field” question from above kicks in.
Do the grid connection delays literally translate into no revenue for the solar field owner/developers?
Or, are the solar fields constructed under a contract that pays the field’s owner/developers some sort of minimum yield on their costs and higher rates once the grid connections are made?
Or, are the completed solar fields providing power to other, more localized users on an economically sustainable basis until they are eventually connected to a larger portion of the grid?
Or, are the eventual revenue streams after connecting to the grids so astronomically high that the investment yield IRR’s support building solar fields on spec?
If in place solar panels can actually function as cost effective legitimate fencing substitutes, and be easily connected to a grid vat a later date with minimal additional cost, the spec approach might make some sense.
I can't answer all those questions, simply reporting on the overview. That said, I've had to clarify the article after finding more detailed info from the REN21 report.
To summarize, the 3000 GW of solar and wind projects were in various development stages from planning to near completion.
What does “waiting to connect to the grid” actually mean? Why are those conditions tolerated by the folks who build the solar farms? If it’s what I infer, it’s like starting a chicken ranch to sell eggs and chickens as consumer food products without having any customers. Except, however, that unused (unsold?) electrical power doesn’t pile up like unsold eggs and chicken carcasses. What am I missing?
It means completed projects as well as those under construction that do not have a time frame for when they can connect and supply electricity to the grid. Much of this is due to delays in grid upgrades, including adding new transmission lines, as well as finalizing connection agreements (i.e. pricing). Governments have set renewable targets, and companies have built and are building projects to meet the targets.
Thank you.
Saying there are the solar field output equivalents of 1,000 nuclear powered generation facilities sitting idle doesn’t make logical sense. Why would anyone build out a solar field knowing there will not be a revenue stream for an indefinite period of time?
Unless, the solar field builder/owner is a utility company building the backbone for a much larger system that requires years to complete.
Or, there are extraordinary tax incentives to build out an idle solar field and wait for the grid connections.
If those conditions apply, your article is a bit misleading.
If those conditions don’t apply, the “why would anyone build an idle solar field” question from above kicks in.
Do the grid connection delays literally translate into no revenue for the solar field owner/developers?
Or, are the solar fields constructed under a contract that pays the field’s owner/developers some sort of minimum yield on their costs and higher rates once the grid connections are made?
Or, are the completed solar fields providing power to other, more localized users on an economically sustainable basis until they are eventually connected to a larger portion of the grid?
Or, are the eventual revenue streams after connecting to the grids so astronomically high that the investment yield IRR’s support building solar fields on spec?
If in place solar panels can actually function as cost effective legitimate fencing substitutes, and be easily connected to a grid vat a later date with minimal additional cost, the spec approach might make some sense.
Or, ??? There are no free lunches.
I can't answer all those questions, simply reporting on the overview. That said, I've had to clarify the article after finding more detailed info from the REN21 report.
To summarize, the 3000 GW of solar and wind projects were in various development stages from planning to near completion.
I'll also send out a note about this to subr's
Other sources
There are currently more than £200bn worth of projects sitting in the connections queue, in the UK https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65500339
Hundreds of wind energy projects are having to wait years for permits to connect to the power grid in Europe – and the backlog is slowing the move to renewable energy, according to a new report by WindEurope. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/07/nature-climate-news-renewable-energy/
In the US: Grid operators told some green energy providers they will not get connected to the grid for years. And even those who have managed to get connected sometimes can’t generate at full power because it might overload that part of the grid. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/02/07/wind-and-solar-energy-producers-frustrated-by-connection-delays-and-congestion-in-power-grid
Growing pains.