Toward a networked energy future
Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - 08:30
in Physics & Chemistry
February 1, 2050, is a good day for German electricity consumers. The breeze off the north coast is blowing so strongly that offshore wind farms and the wind turbines on land are running non-stop. Since it's a sunny day, photovoltaic modules, which are mostly located in the south, are also working at peak capacity. On monitors in a central control room, engineers can see from a diagram that, in total, an average of 80 gigawatts (GW) of renewable electricity is being generated, with a midday peak that is as high as 120 GW.