We just need a government that understands and pushes for action.
I don't disagree in the slightest. Storage is key, but we had 2 days where renewables delivered ~10% of nameplate power. So do we size renewables to 10 times current capacity? There is no solution which will store whole grid overcapacity for an extended period.
Storing 90% of UK grid power for a 2 day supply constraint is impossible with current tech. I have discussed this before. On that scale, every EV in the country would need to go V2G and they do not, on average, have enough power for that.
Granted if vehicles had 500kw/h packs it would be perfect as a buffer. But 100 is bad enough a t current weight and costs.
As for reducing consumption? We insulate, we scale down and the UK grid demand drops every decade. It is not enough and it never will be. EV demand will be at least 50% of the current grid.
We still haven't answered the question. What happens when all the wind farms are becalmed for a week. Because in the UK that averages out to around 3.6 TW/h of storage needed.
The UK has just short of 39 million vehicles on the road today. If they all had a 40kw/h battery in them their V2G potential would be 1.5TW/h.
Taking those figures and assuming that each vehicle needs to be charged by 25%, every day produces a grid figure which is rather daunting.
These are all real questions we need to answer. Our EVs are likely to be our best source of renewable storage. But not at 40KW/h per vehicle. A minimum would be 200 where we sequester 100 for the grid. Then what do we do on the days they are full and power keeps flooding in?
To be clear, I'm not saying No we can't do it. What I am saying is that governments need to start planning for a future where easy on FF power will not be there.
Today I see renewable energy as a political football. Not a realistic solution. It needs to stop and be a real solution.