IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017 - 31

places, were the rule, notable excep-
tions being hydro stations. Mean-
while, power engineers succeeded
in designing sophisticated control
systems, both automatic and opera-
tor-assisted, allowing sy nchro -
nous generators to reliably track
the evolution of the rather inelastic
demand [1].
The rollout and consolidation of
such a paradigm was accompanied
by a drastic and continued reduction
of electricity prices, bringing about
profound changes in economically
developed societies. On the nega-
tive side, this was achieved at the
cost of wasting roughly two thirds
of the (mostly fossil) primary energy
used for power production, as the
efficiency of thermal stations hardly
reached 35% on average, for which
huge amounts of refrigeration water
had to be processed as well. Our
energy-addict civilization hence lost
the opportunity to satisfy its power
needs by adopting cogeneration or
trigeneration systems [2], with effi-
ciencies easily exceeding 80%, such
as those widely used for district heat-
ing in Northern Europe.
The new regulatory wave of the
1990s, aimed at removing the barri-
ers and inefficiencies of monopolis-
tic utilities by unbundling vertically
integrated businesses, significantly
changed the way energy was trad-
ed. Yet the basic centralized struc-
ture and energy flow patterns of
the past decades remained essen-
tially unchanged.
Soon after the oil crisis of 1973,
a handful of motivated researchers
started to design, build, and test
rather exotic mockups of thermal
solar stations in the deserts of Mojave
(California) and Tabernas (Spain).
Also, early in the 1980s, small and
primitive wind farms were erect-
ed in New Hampshire, the Greek
island of Kyathos, and elsewhere,
followed in 1991 by the first off-
shore farm in Denmark (11x450 kW
DECEMBER 2017

turbines). Nobody could then
imagine that solar energy,
including modular photo-
The advent of nuclear stations
voltaic (PV) plants rang-
ing in size from 1 kW to
in the 1970s and combinedhundreds of megawatts,
cycle gas turbines in the 1980s
along with increasingly
larger, electronically-aided
reinforced the steady trend
w ind generators (up to
8-MW offshore units), would
towards a centralized and
become in just 25 years the
monopolistic production
cornerstones of a revolution
in power production that is
of electricity.
drastically changing the face
and fate of power systems.
Indeed, a number of circumstanc-
renewables penetration in the elec-
es (rising fossil fuel prices, nuclear ac-
tricity mix. For instance, 42% of the
cidents, climate change awareness,
electricity consumed in Denmark
public subsidies, technological in-
in 2015 came from wind farms. In
novations, etc.) have catapulted re-
Spain, a much larger and not so
newable sources, beyond traditional
well interconnected country, wind
hydro and biomass, towards expo-
energy was the main contributor to
nential growth rates in power capac-
the electricity mix in 2013 (over 21%
ity. In the last decade (2007-2016),
share), beating for the first time the
the global cumulative installed capac-
pool of nuclear stations. In Portugal,
ity of wind energy has increased by
all electricity came from hydro, wind
over five-fold, from 94 to 490 GW [3].
and solar for four consecutive days
But this pales when compared with
in May 2016. In Germany, over 50%
PV capacity, which has increased over
of the daily demand was produced
the same period from 9.4 to around
by renewables on March 18, 2017.
300 GW, i.e., by six times as much as
Driven by technological inno-
wind power [4].
vation and massive production, re-
Excluding hydro, a total of 139 GW
newables seem to have entered
of renewable capacity was built
a virtuous circle delivering increas-
worldwide in 2016, increasing the
ingly cheaper and more efficient
renewable share from 15% to 17%.
plants. Early in 2017, the largest PV
This represents over 55% of the
plant (Longyangxia Dam Solar Park,
global capacity erected that year
850 MW on 23 km2) started opera-
(90% in the case of Europe). In the
tion in China in coordination with a
U.S., wind generation capacity has
conventional hydro station, bring-
already surpassed hydro capacity,
ing about many synergies between
both technologies enjoying simi-
both technologies. The state-of-
lar capacity factors (34.7% wind
the-art technology in concentrated
a nd 38% hydro). Those figures
solar power is the 110-MW Crescent
were absolutely unimaginable just
Dunes plant in the Nevada desert,
a decade ago. And this changing of
where the sun directly heats the
the guard is taking place not only in
molten salts flowing through the
Europe, the U.S., China, or Austra-
solar tower. Its 50% capacity factor
lia, but also in India, Brazil, South
allows the plant to serve the night
Africa, and many other countries [5].
peak demand of Las Vegas.
In turn, the added capacity is
Capital expenditure (CAPEX), one
leading to steadily growing rates of
of the weakest points associated
∕

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31



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