Wind and solar energy are both intermittent and weather-dependent, while our needs for electricity are constant. How, then, to make them viable? Batteries! What batteries? Big ones. Do such batteries exist? Not exactly.
Australia’s left-wing government has been trying to transition from coal power to wind and solar, without success. Most recently, a giant battery facility at Waratah, not yet in operation, has suffered a catastrophic failure and will be off-line indefinitely. The facility is huge:
The one-billion-dollar Waratah Super Battery is rated at 850 MW (1680 MWh) — in other words, it can deliver 850 megawatts of power for about two hours before it’s a flat battery.
Somehow, two hours doesn’t seem long enough.
This is what happened:
One of the world’s most powerful battery storage projects has suffered a crippling failure just a couple of months before it was supposed to be ready for full operation. The problem with one, and possibly two of its three transformers is so bad, it’s the kind of glitch that affects the whole national transition. This battery was supposed to provide stability for the grid as coal power stations were forced out by the renewable subsidies. But suddenly generators all over NSW are recalculating maintenance schedules and closure dates.
The problem with the transformers is described further at the link, although it remains mysterious. How long will it take to get new or rebuilt transformers?
The company is saying it will be six months to a year-long delay, but, given the waiting times for transformers in the US have blown out to an astounding 120 weeks, and up to 210 weeks or 2 to 4 years, it seems wildly optimistic to hope this can be back in action next year. Currently the AEMO officially describes this fault as continuing until May 3rd, 2026.
So, several years probably. But all is not lost:
This highlights the fragility of the whole transition which is dependent on new technologies that are being invented just-in-time (or not). This giant battery was supposed to arrive in time for Eraring Coal to shut last August.
And the grid, once again, is rescued by an old coal plant that keeps running.
Coal-fired power plants, unlike wind and solar facilities, actually work. Someday, the current mania for windmills and photovoltaic panels will be viewed in the same light as the alchemists’ futile efforts of the Middle Ages, or, in economic terms, the South Sea Bubble.
A postscript: wind turbines and solar panels are pathetically weak sources of electricity, but most people assume they must be “green,” i.e., good for the environment. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, both wind and solar are environmental disasters. Check out this American Experiment video, which has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube since it was launched a week ago. And it is targeted primarily to liberals, so we hope they are learning something:
