How to Sustainably Balance Wind Energy

Wind power plants are commonly proposed as technology for reducing climate gas emissions, but several studies show that the reductions of climate gases emissions are low due to the required fossil fueled balancing power. In fact, wind power plants using fossil fuel balancing can never result in a low carbon electricity grid. Thus, it seems impossible with today’s commercially available technologies except through Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and/or Power Purchasing Agreements with hydroelectric power plants. The BESS or the hydroelectric power plants will serve as balancing power to the wind energy. The purpose of the chapter is to analyze the environmental viability of these two alternatives using Norway as a case. Norway is an ideal case with its very high hydroelectric share of the grid, which implies that if it does not work there, it cannot work anywhere else where the hydroelectric share of the grid is much lower. The conclusion is clear; wind power plants can only contribute towards a low-carbon electricity grid through formal Purchasing Power Agreements with hydroelectric power plants. Unfortunately, this is currently not the current practice in Norway. The BESS has far too high environmental burden to constitute a low carbon grid solution. Today’s BESS can therefore best be viewed as peak shaving technologies if they are combined with wind power plants.