Who’da thunk it? When you expand intermittent sources of electrical supply, you need more wiring to connect all the generators to the distribution network. In effect, you need to redesign the whole system when you change the energy sources you use to produce electricity.
The redesign, however, is just an engineering puzzle. The big challenges emerge when you try to implement it. Then you need all sorts of political and bureaucratic support, plus public and stakeholder approval. The implementation process can take years to complete under the best of conditions.
The source article, and the study it reports, argues that the best of conditions does not exist for Virginia.
From an engineering point of view, intermittent sources of electrical supply are simply a bad idea. We should call off pursuing them and invest in something better.
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