Articles by
Bernard Chabot
Renewables International: Renewables and California’s heat wave
By
Bernard Chabot
Just as power demand is peaking in the area, California is losing its nuclear plants. At the beginning of June, a decision was made not to reopen the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant, and just this week yet another nuclear plant, this time Diablo Canyon, shut down one of its two reactors because of a leak. . . Overall, Chabot concludes that "variable but predictable" renewable electricity "combine very well in hot months in California." At the moment, Californians can use all of the electricity they can get.
Sunny or Cloudy weather: which impact on electricity from wind and solar?
By
Bernard Chabot
From January to May 2013, Germany weather was very different from other years, mainly with less sun than average. To assess if those exceptional conditions had an important impact on electricity production from renewables, we will analyze power production from solar, wind and combined [Wind + PV] in Germany. Results shows that related monthly productivity Nh (expressed in averaged Wh/W.day each month) was less than in the same five first months of 2012, without a dramatic difference if we consider the combination of wind and solar PV production and the total production during the five first months of 2013.
Wind Power Silent Revolution: New Wind Turbines for Light Wind Sites
By
Bernard Chabot
This article demonstrates that those claims are realistic and that such new turbines models for this kind of sites open new opportunities for onshore wind development with specific advantages: more TWh delivered per GW and per year, higher penetration rates, new opportunities for wind developers, including farmers and cooperatives located in those light wind speed regions, lower competition for access to convenient sites, and specific advantages for grid operators: much more hours of operation per year at rated power and less GW of peak transmission capacity for given medium and long term targets in terms of TWh/year or penetration rates.
Renewables International: A comparison of FITs for nuclear vs. renewables
By
Bernard Chabot
French energy expert Bernard Chabot provides the hard math behind the calculations of feed-in tariffs for nuclear in the UK and compares them to current FITs for wind (offshore and on) and PV under conditions in the UK. He finds that new nuclear already costs some 50 percent more than onshore wind and will cost two and half times as much by the mid-2030s. PV will also costs nearly the same as new nuclear in 10 years even in the cloudy UK. . .
Renewables International: How wind and solar complement each other in California
By
Bernard Chabot
For the first time ever, power production from PV and CSP were separately reported in December for California. French energy expert Bernard Chabot took a look at the figures, especially to determine the reliability of combined wind + solar under the much different conditions in California, where power demand is greater in the summer, not in the winter as in Europe.
Renewables International: 25% wind and PV in December
By
Bernard Chabot
As French energy expert Bernard Chabot explains, December was a strong month for wind power in Germany, and in the last week of the month, when power demand was low because of the holidays and especially warm weather, solar made a surprisingly strong showing.
Renewables International: More onshore wind needed
By
Bernard Chabot
French energy expert Bernard Chabot takes a look at German power production over the past 12 months and finds that an increase in onshore wind would make the supply of renewable power more reliable. . .
Renewables International: The shift towards large systems
By
Bernard Chabot
French expert Bernard Chabot analyzes and comments on the potential impacts on PV arrays size diversity of the PV installations in Germany from 2009 to the end of June 2012. . .
Renewables International: How Wind and PV Productivity Complement Each Other
By
Bernard Chabot
French energy expert Bernard Chabot updates his analysis of the German intermittent power sector with data from July. . . the variability of the productivity ratio of the combined [Wind + PV] production is lower than the variability for both wind and PV separate production . . .
Renewables International: From winter to summer: a well balanced and increasing combined [wind + PV] production in Germany
By
Bernard Chabot
French energy expert Bernard Chabot investigates the changes in wholesale power prices in Germany stemming from the increase in green power production. . .
Renewables International: German wind and PV lower European market power prices
By
Bernard Chabot
In countries with a large penetration rate of zero fuel cost renewables (wind power in Denmark and Spain, wind and PV in Germany), the “merit-order effect” (avoiding the most costly means of power production to cover peak loads) is already well documented. In this article, French expert Bernard Chabot shows how the penetration rate of combined wind and PV production in Germany already lowers the European Electricity Index (ELIX) for electricity markets in Germany/Austria, France and Switzerland. . .
Renewables International: The “softening effect” of wind and solar on Grid Integration
By
Bernard Chabot
French expert Bernard Chabot explains another benefit from a balanced mix of wind and solar: their combined daily maximum outputs are lower than the addition of their installed capacity, allowing for a lower maximum carrying capability for electrical systems designed for the large penetration of renewables. Specifically, Germany’s targets turnout to be in line with maximum power demand. . .
