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How inverters can stabilize a renewables-heavy grid. A conversation with Daniel Duckwitz of SMA Solar Technology and Catarina Augusto of SolarPower Europe. Volts David Roberts 5 Sept 2025 Today's electricity grids are kept stable by the inertia of spinning masses — mostly fossil fuel generators. But what happens when those spinning masses are replaced by inverter-based resources like wind, solar, and batteries? The answer is that inverters must take over the stabilizing job, becoming "grid-forming" rather than merely “grid-following.” I chat with two experts about how grid-forming inverters work, how many are out there, and what the future holds for them. And you're right, there is. In the seconds or milliseconds between when demand rises or falls on a grid and a grid operator is able to respond by adding or subtracting supply, the energy to buffer that transition and keep frequency and voltage under control is provided by inertia.
Specifically, almost every electricity generator involves a large spinning mass, rotating coils through a magnetic field. And there is kinetic energy in that spinning mass. Like a flywheel, that inertial energy can be tweaked very quickly. The mass can spin more quickly, thereby absorbing energy, or spin more slowly, thereby releasing energy, keeping the grid in balance in those key seconds. Collectively, spinning masses constitute a kind of shock absorber for the grid. Now here's the first: solar panels, batteries, and most wind turbines, the building blocks of tomorrow's energy system, do not connect to the grid via large spinning masses. Rather, they connect through inverters, which are all electronics. No moving parts, nothing spinning, no kinetic energy. Lacking inertia, inverter-based resources have not, to date, actively contributed to grid stability. In fact, there are widespread worries that replacing (primarily fossil fuel-based) spinning masses with clean inverter-based resources will leave grids with too little inertia, too little buffer, prone to accidents and breakdowns like what happened in Spain and Portugal recently. But here's the second twist. A modern inverter, properly programmed, can effectively mimic a spinning mass, adding or subtracting tiny increments of energy to the grid in milliseconds. This ersatz spinning mass provides what is called in the business "synthetic inertia." Inverters attached to batteries are best at this, for reasons we'll get into. But inverters on solar panels and wind turbines can contribute as well.

So the problem is solved and we can all go home? Haha, of course not. It is never that simple. To get into the details, I have with me today two experts: Daniel Duckwitz works on grid stability products for SMA Solar Technology, a large power conversion company based in Germany; Catarina Augusto is a renewable energy engineer who works on grids and flexibility for the nonprofit SolarPower Europe.

As you could probably tell from the lengthier-than-usual intro, this subject can get somewhat technical. But the larger issue we're circling around here could not be more simple and profoundly important: can we or can we not run a stable electricity grid on renewable energy?

All right then, with no further ado, Daniel Duckwitz, Catarina Augusto, welcome to Volts. Thank you so much for coming......READ OR LISTEN TO THE DISCUSSION.......   

  https://www.volts.wtf/p/how-inverters-can-stabilize-a-renewables?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=193024&post_id=166505662&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=mwxsy&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

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Trump cracks down on renewable energy The Hill Rachel Frazin - 08/08/25 The moves are expected to create issues for the renewable energy industry, ones critics argue could raise power prices. President Trump’s tax and spending megabill slashed incentives for wind and solar energy that were part of the Democrats’ 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which is expected to significantly stifle the build-out of the growing industry. And in recent weeks, his administration has taken further actions to hamper wind and solar power.To catch you up:

  • Shortly after the bill passed, Trump directed the Treasury Department to take a strict approach in limiting which projects are eligible for the remaining tax credits.

  • The Interior Department also recently announced it would subject wind and solar projects to an elevated review process — a move that was expected to slow down their approvals.

  • Last week, Interior said it would try to block projects that take up a lot of room, which is expected to primarily hurt solar and wind projects. 

  • The department said last week that it would weigh “whether to stop onshore wind development on some federal lands and halting future offshore wind lease sales.”

  • It also moved this week to try to cancel an already approved wind project in Idaho.

  • The Environmental Protection Agency separately announced Thursday it would move to claw back funds under a $7 billion rooftop solar program. 

The Interior Department's elevated review processes are expected to pertain not only to wind and solar farm approvals but also include a wide range of activities such as grants and assessments of endangered species impacts.......read on https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzQbgcXPWLftwJJjQcGRBlMLjrxK  

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 How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy. China has achieved stunning growth in its installed renewable capacity over the last two decades, far outpacing the rest of the world. But to end its continued dependence on fossil fuels, it must now move ahead with planned reforms to its national electricity system. eYale.edu Isabel Hilton • March 13, 2024 Last November, Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry shook hands on a pledge to triple renewable energy globally by 2030. It was hailed as a welcome revival of climate cooperation between the world’s biggest and second-biggest emitters of greenhouse gases and offered hope that the two veteran climate negotiators had found a way through a blizzard of negative diplomatic exchanges to keep alive the prospects for greater global ambition on tackling climate change. In one key sector essential to that ambition, however, the Chinese government can argue, with some justification, that it is China, not the United States, that is in the lead. In a world in which national climate targets are being missed, the speed and scale of expansion in China’s installed renewable capacity is unmatched. In 2020, for example, China pledged to reach 1,200 gigawatts of renewables capacity by 2030, more than double its capacity at that time. At its present pace, it will meet that target by 2025, and could boast as much as 1,000 gigawatts of solar power alone by the end of 2026, an achievement that would make a substantial contribution to the 11,000 gigawatts of installed renewable capacity that the world needs to meet the 2030 targets of the Paris Agreement. Fossil fuels now make up less than half of China’s total installed generation capacity, a dramatic reduction from a decade ago when fossil fuels accounted for two-thirds of its power capacity.
 
In 2022, China installed roughly as much solar capacity as the rest of the world combined, then doubled additional solar in 2023. When the International Energy Authority issued its assessment of the pledge to triple renewables globally by 2030, it pointed out that the 50 percent increase in global renewable installations in 2023 was largely driven by China. In 2022, China installed roughly as much solar photovoltaic capacity as the rest of the world combined, then went on in 2023 to double new solar installations, increase new wind capacity by 66 percent, and almost quadruple additions of energy storage. For the past two decades, China has been notorious as the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, a country that also uses as much heavily polluting coal as the rest of the world combined. How did it also become the world’s renewable powerhouse? Part of the answer goes back to investment decisions made in the mid-2000s when China’s decades-long phase of rapid GDP growth was coming to an end. Labor costs were rising, and China’s development model, with its overwhelming dependence on coal, had plunged China into multiple crises of air, soil, and water pollution. In the first decade of this century, China’s emissions more than doubled, and by 2006 it had overtaken the U.S. to earn the unwelcome title of the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases by volume.China’s leadership was alert to the negative diplomatic impacts of being the world’s worst polluter, especially in those countries most vulnerable to climate impacts. At the same time, China’s own exposure to climate change effects, on top of its escalating pollution crisis and the public unrest it was generating, was becoming a significant topic in Beijing’s top-level policy discussions. China’s planners were looking for investments that would create an opportunity for a more advanced technological future, and this coincided with the need to clean up China’s environment and the global effort to cut emissions. All this pointed to supporting the development of the renewable technologies the world would need if it was to avoid climate catastrophe.
In the next and every subsequent five-year plan, China made strategic investments in all aspects of renewable technologies, from solar and wind capacity, green hydrogen, and geothermal projects to research and investment in battery storage and its supply chains. In the first phase of its rapid industrial development starting in the 1990s, China had been obliged to license technologies owned by others. Now the strategic ambition was to dominate the field, positioning China as the global supplier of goods to an increasingly carbon-constrained world.  Within a decade, China had largely achieved its goal of dominating not only the production of solar and wind technologies, but it had developed a near monopoly on every aspect of the supply chains, including the mining and processing of the rare-earths and strategic minerals essential for the clean energy revolution. Today, China has more than 80 percent of the world’s solar manufacturing capacity. The extraordinary scale of China’s renewables sector output has driven down prices worldwide, and this is a key factor in reducing the cost barrier to renewable systems for poorer countries. Today China not only holds important positions in wind and battery technologies, but a Chinese company, BYD, has become the world’s biggest EV manufacturer, and China is poised to pose a formidable global challenge in all aspects of electric transportation to established vehicle brands. Today the renewables sector is one of the relatively few bright spots in the Chinese economy, having benefited from a surge in government stimulus as Beijing tried to restore growth hit hard by Covid-19. 
 
The massive real estate market, which boosted China’s GDP figures for more than three decades, is teetering on the edge of collapse. The pandemic and the downturn in global economies that followed has hit China’s exports, and nervous Chinese consumers are sitting on their wallets in case things get worse. Renewable energy, however, seems to have a bright future, but fully realizing that potential will demand further radical reforms. Renewables now account for half of China’s installed capacity, but there has also been a surge in permits for new coal-fired power plants, and China still generates about 70 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels. This means actual renewable energy use is lagging behind installed capacity......read on         https://e360.yale.edu/features/china-renewable-energy

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Why self-generated energy is the future. Sandvik Mar 25, 2020 Energy resource scarcity is a concerning issue. Around the world, companies are looking for opportunities to operate independently of the energy grid by generating renewable energy themselves, ultimately helping to meet the global demand. “There is every reason to believe that society will continue to use more and more machines and devices, therefore consuming more electricity,” says Mats Alvem, Global Environmental Manager at Sandvik “Meanwhile, as we switch from cheap, accessible, traditional energy to green energy, there’s a real possibility that clean electricity could become scarce. This is why, apart from the obvious benefits in terms of corporate social responsibility and reputation building, companies are looking to secure their own electricity supply for the future
Retail giants leading clean energy......The self-generated clean energy trend began among B2C corporations about a decade ago. More recently it has spread into the B2B segment. One of the trailblazers was Swedish flat-pack furniture emporium IKEA, which started placing solar panels on the roofs of its buildings in 2011 to help reduce its carbon footprint. In 2019, the retail giant announced its investment in two large solar power plants in the United States and a wind farm in Romania, in addition to the 900,000 solar panels and 500-plus wind turbines it already operates. By the end of 2020, IKEA aims to generate more renewable energy than it uses worldwide.
 
Solar power at Sandvik.......Sandvik’s first solar power installation was in Alcester, UK. The panels were installed in 2012, with a total effect of 250 kWp. Since then, Sandvik has invested in renewable energy at ten sites situated around the world, including France, Poland, Germany, the US, Zimbabwe, India and Sweden. The largest Sandvik solar power plant is in Chiplun, India, where the installed effect of 409 kWp accounts for around 4 percent of the total electricity consumption of the plant. 
In 2017, Apple opened its Apple Campus 2 headquarters, nicknamed “the spaceship,” in Cupertino, California. Apart from providing state-of-the-art facilities for as many as 13,000 employees, the 175-acre campus is also home to around 75,000 square metres of solar arrays, which provide 75 percent of the building’s daytime electricity. High consumer demand for renewable energy. It is no coincidence that leading retailers such as Apple and IKEA were among the first to blaze the self-generated energy trail. The most immediate rewards from this kind of initiative, Alvem explains, are usually related to public relations. “These days, consumer-focused companies are under more pressure than ever to differentiate themselves from the competition,” he says. “Taking responsibility for the environment and having a strong sustainability profile is good for your reputation and also helps attract talent to the company.” Securing access to clean, affordable energy also makes good business sense, he says. 

 

Solar power investment payback......Solar power is comparatively inexpensive and easy to install, unlike wind power, which involves huge investment costs and a complex regulatory landscape. The average payback time on a solar panel system with a lifespan of 25-plus years is seven and a half years, estimates Boston-based online solar financing marketplace EnergySage. “Payback varies a great deal, depending on the technology you’re using and where in the world you install it,” says Alvem. “It goes without saying that solar power performs better in Asia or Africa, where there is more sunshine than in, say, Sweden.” Alvem emphasizes that the financial viability of renewable energy is heavily impacted by government policy, as more and more countries offer subsidies and tax rebates for measures that improve sustainability and reduce climate impact. “And while northern Europe might perform less well in the sunshine stakes,” he says, “governments in this part of the world tend to offer significant incentives for investments of this kind.” For Sandvik, the decision to invest in renewable energy was a no-brainer.

Sandvik an early adopter of renewable energy......“Here at Sandvik, we see our environmental initiatives as both a fundamental responsibility and a business opportunity,” says Alvem, “and we’re continuously working to minimize the environmental impact of our operations. This is why it made perfect sense for us to become one of the early adopters of solar power.” Sandvik installed its first solar panels in 2012, at its site in Alcester in the UK. Since then, it has invested in solar power or other forms of renewable energy at an additional ten sites. The largest of Sandvik’s solar installations can be found in Chiplun, India, where the maximum peak effect from solar energy is 409 kWp, or kilowatt ‘peak’. (A kWp is how many kilowatts solar panels will generate when working at maximum capacity for an hour.) Solar panels are also installed at the Harare site in Zimbabwe (100 kWp) and the Fair Lawn, New York site in the US (85 kWp).https://www.home.sandvik/en/stories/articles/2020/03/why-self-generated-energy-is-the-future/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19489983810&gbraid=0AAAAAC74dOASqJBxCTPVv8Vb8hWLWIMQp&gclid=CjwKCAjw6s7CBhACEiwAuHQckoimFL74vhY_D9LQY1sD5gY3Fc3S_-Zcr-LwHk2trYUz1lojjJeubhoCh5MQAvD_BwE

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Even in the Trump era. Climate progress is actually good business. Vox  Umair Irfan, Benji Jones, Adam Clark Estes, and Sam Delgado Data visualization by Gabrielle Merite  Apr 21, 2025 Technologies that can power our lives and jobs while doing less harm to the global climate — wind, solar, batteries, etc. — are getting cheaper, more efficient, and more abundant. The pace of progress on price, scale, and performance has been so extraordinary that even the most optimistic forecasts about green tech in the past have turned out to be too pessimistic. Clean energy isn’t just powering our devices, tools, and luxuries — it’s growing the global economy, creating a whole suite of new jobs, and reshaping trade. And despite what headlines may say, there’s no sign these trends will reverse. Political and economic turmoil may slow down clean energy, but the sector has built up so much momentum that it’s become nigh unstoppable. 
 
Take a look at Texas: The largest oil- and gas-producing state in the US is also the largest in wind energy, and it’s installing more solar than any other. Texas utilities have come to realize that investing in clean energy is not just good for the environment; it’s good business. And even without subsidies and preferential treatment, the benefits of clean technologies — in clean air, scalability, distribution, and cost — have become impossible to ignore. And there’s only more room to grow. The world is still in the early stages of this revolution as market forces become the driver rather than environmental worries. In some US markets, installing new renewable energy is cheaper than running existing coal plants. Last year, the US produced more electricity from wind and solar power than from coal for the first time. If these energy trends persist, the US economy will see its greenhouse gas emissions diminish faster, reducing its contribution to climate change. The US needs to effectively zero out its carbon dioxide emissions by the middle of the century in order to keep the worst damages of climate change in check. Now, just a few months into Trump’s second presidency, it’s still an open question just how fragile the country’s progress on clean energy and climate will be. But the data is clear: There is tremendous potential for economic growth and environmental benefits if the country makes the right moves at this key inflection point. Certainly incentives like tax credits, business loans, and research and development funding could accelerate decarbonization. On the other hand, pulling back — as the Trump administration wants to do — would slow down clean energy in the US, though it wouldn’t stop it. But the rest of the world isn’t sitting idle, and if the US decides to slow its head start, its competitors may take the lead in a massive, rocketing industry. —Umair Irfan, Vox climate correspondent 
 
Solar.......It’s hard to think of a natural wonder more unstoppable than the sun, and harnessing its energy has proven just as formidable. The United States last year saw a record amount of clean energy power up, with solar leading the way. Over the past decade, solar power capacity in the US has risen eightfold.Why? Solar has just gotten way, way, way cheaper, even more than wind. The main technology for turning sunlight into electricity, the single-junction photovoltaic panel, has drastically increased the efficiency by which it turns a ray of sunlight into a moving electron. This lets the same-size panel convert more light into electricity. Since the device itself is a printed semiconductor, it has benefited from many of the manufacturing improvements that have come with recent advances in computer chip production. Solar has also benefited from economies of scale, particularly as China has invested heavily in its production. This has translated into cheaper solar panels around the world, including the US. And since solar panels are modular, small gains in efficiency and cost reduction quickly add up, boosting the business case........more 
 
Wind.....President Donald Trump does not like wind energy — apparently, in part, because he thinks turbines are ugly. “We’re not going to do the wind thing,” Trump said after his inauguration during a rally. “Big, ugly windmills, they ruin your neighborhood.”He’s put some power behind those feelings. Within mere hours of stepping into office, Trump signed an executive order that hamstrung both onshore and offshore wind energy developments, even as he has claimed that the US faces an energy crisis......more
 
Our energy grid......While wind and solar energy have soared upward for more than a decade, storing electricity on the grid with batteries is just taking off. Grid-scale battery capacity suddenly launched upward around 2020 and has about doubled every year since. That’s good news for intermittent power sources, such as wind and solar: Energy storage is the booster rocket for renewables and one of the key tools for addressing the stubborn duck curve that plagues solar power.Batteries for the grid aren’t that far removed from those that power phones and computers, so they’ve benefited from cost and performance improvements in consumer batteries. And they still have room to get cheaper........more
 
The electric vehicle transition.....Transportation is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Fossil fuels currently account for nearly 90 percent of the energy consumption in the transportation sector, which makes it an obvious target for decarbonization. And while it will take some time to figure out how to electrify planes, trains, and container ships, the growth of EVs, including passenger cars and trucks, has reached a tipping point.The price of a new EV is nearly equivalent to a new gas-powered car, when you include state and federal subsidies. And the US charging infrastructure is getting better by the day: With over 200,000 chargers currently online, the number is growing......more
 

Jobs......For any of these clean energy sectors to reach their highest potential, there’s an essential requirement they all share: a robust, skilled workforce. The good news for the clean energy industry is that data show the jobs are rolling in.  The 2024 Clean Jobs America report by E2, a national group focused on climate solutions across industries, paints a positive picture for clean jobs. Renewable energy jobs increased by 14 percent from 2020 to 2023 — a surge boosted by the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) climate-focused policies. Jobs in the solar sector have grown by 15 percent in that same period, with 12 percent growth for wind and 11 percent growth for geothermal......more

 
Geothermal......While President Trump has largely been hostile to renewable energy, there’s one clean energy source that the administration actually supports: geothermal.Geothermal has long lived in the shadows of other renewables — especially as wind and solar have surged. But geothermal’s potential may be greater than any of those, and ironically, being in Trump’s good graces may give this sector the final boost it needs. If you know President Trump’s motto of “drill, baby, drill,” this might not come as a surprise. Geothermal energy is tapped by drilling into the ground and extracting heat from the earth, and it uses similar technology to the oil and gas industry. US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has long praised geothermal, and the fracking company he oversaw prior to joining the Trump administration invested in Fervo Energy, a company that specializes in geothermal technologies.Despite the fact that the first geothermal plant was built in 1904 in Italy, the energy source is still in its infancy. Then there’s the issue of cost. Compared to solar and wind development and operations, building geothermal plants and drilling is much more expensive. And it currently costs more per megawatt hour than solar and wind......more

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  4. Philippine Market Movers: RMI An Analysis of Three high potential Areas to Accelerate the Offshore Wind market in the Philippines

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