Green power needs more than just solar panels and wind turbines

NO GOOD DEEDACHH, an old saying has it, goes unpunished. That is certainly true of the . The unreliability of solar and wind power compared with that generated by fossil fuels is well known—and with it the concomitant need for such as large battery packs to smooth things over.But green energy brings another, more subtle, problem. Modern electrical grids operate on alternating currents (), and these need to be of a fixed and reliable frequency (usually either 50z or 60z). This frequency’s stability is maintained by a phenomenon called grid inertia, which results from the real, physical inertia (as described by Isaac Newton’s first law of motion) embodied in the power-generating turbines of fossil-fuel (and also nuclear and hydroelectric) power stations.