gyn9038/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — There is growing concern in Europe ahead of next month’s solar eclipse because of an increased dependence on solar power– including in European economic powerhouse Germany.
During the last solar eclipse in 1999, only 0.1 percent of electricity was produced through solar power, but that has grown to at least 10.5 percent as countries have strived to meet EU renewable energy targets, according to the Financial Times.
The eclipse will still be a “stress test” of the flexibility of the European power system, because it will have to adapt to a more abrupt shift in solar power generation than would normally occur, especially if it is a sunny day and all solar power stations were producing at full load.
However, Patrick Graichen, executive director of Agora Energiewende, a Berlin renewable energy think-tank, told the Financial Times the March 20 eclipse was unlikely to cause any problems because there are several well-known ways of balancing power supplies and there has been plenty of time to plan.
“Within 30 minutes the solar power production would decrease from 17.5 gigawatts to 6.2GW and then increase again up to 24.6GW. This means that within 30 minutes the system will have to adapt to a load change of -10GW to +15GW,” he told the Times.
While energy companies seem to be preparing, it’s possible that when the sun goes away next month, lights might also go out in Europe.
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