Nations adding wind and solar power aren’t doing enough to ensure their electricity systems can meet demand when renewable-energy output falls short, according to a Bloomberg Industries analysis.
Countries must do more to establish so-called capacity markets, which reward utilities to run coal- and gas-fired plants as a backup when alternative energy is insufficient, Chris Rogers, an analyst in London, said in a report.
European countries including Germany and the U.K. are overhauling their energy industries to raise the share of renewables, helping to counter a power shortfall as fossil-fuel and nuclear plants are taken out of service. That expansion can’t do away with coal- and gas-fired generation altogether because wind and solar output varies according to the weather.
“Liberalized markets and many regulated systems have failed to address the issues of rising intermittency,” Rogers said. “Capacity markets are failing to deliver high enough prices to incentivize refurbishment of old plant, or building of new plant.”
I would like to propose a new word:,”over-allocation”, to describe the situation in which excessive resources are allocated to solving a problem perceived to be important , but which is not urgent, to the detriment of solving a problem which is NOT perceived to be important , but which IS very urgent .