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Dunkelflaute

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A dunkelflaute of three days in Germany 2023 (wind in light blue and solar in yellow)

In the renewable energy sector, a dunkelflaute (German: [ˈdʊŋkəlˌflaʊtə] ⓘ, lit. 'dark doldrums' or 'dark wind lull', plural dunkelflauten)[1] is a period of time in which little or no energy can be generated with wind and solar power, because there is neither wind nor sunlight.[2][3][4] In meteorology, this is known as anticyclonic gloom.[5]

Meteorology

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Unlike a typical anticyclone, dunkelflauten are associated not with clear skies, but with very dense cloud cover (0.7–0.9), consisting of stratus, stratocumulus, and fog.[6] As of 2022 there is no agreed quantitative definition of dunkelflaute.[7] Li et al. define it as wind and solar both below 20% of capacity during a particular 60-minute period.[8] High albedo of low-level stratocumulus clouds in particular – sometimes the cloud base height is just 400 meters – can reduce solar irradiation by half.[6]

In the north of Europe, dunkelflauten originate from a static high-pressure system that causes an extremely weak wind combined with overcast weather with stratus or stratocumulus clouds.[9] There are 2–10 dunkelflaute events per year.[10] Most of these events occur from October to February; typically 50 to 150 hours per year, a single event usually lasts up to 24 hours.[11][failed verification]

In Japan, on the other hand, dunkelflauten are seen in summer and winter. The former is caused by stationary fronts in early summer and autumn rainy seasons (called Baiu and Akisame, respectively),[12] while the latter is caused by arrivals of south-coast cyclones.[13]

Renewable energy effects

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These periods are a big issue in energy infrastructure if a significant amount of electricity is generated by variable renewable energy (VRE) sources, mainly solar and wind power.[14][1][15] Dunkelflauten can occur simultaneously over a very large region, but are less correlated between geographically distant regions, so multi-national power grid schemes can be helpful.[16] Events that last more than two days over most of Europe happen about once every five years.[17] To ensure power during such periods flexible energy sources may be used, energy may be imported, and demand may be adjusted.[18][19]

For alternative energy sources, countries use fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), hydroelectricity or nuclear power and, less often, energy storage to prevent power outages.[20][21][8][22] Long-term solutions include designing electricity markets to incentivise clean power which is available when needed.[19] A group of countries is following on from Mission Innovation to work together to solve the problem in a clean, low-carbon way by 2030, including looking into carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy as possible parts of the solution.[23]

Droughts

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By analogy with hydrological droughts, long used in planning for hydroelectricity, the researchers of the future VRE-intensive power grids in the 2020s started using the term variable renewable energy drought (VRE drought or simply power drought) that is nearly synonymous to the dunkelflaute.[24][25] Unlike the dunkelflaute, the drought can be a series of isolated adverse events, the most severe effects are forecasted are of this series type, and the planning for resource adequacy thus should span multiple years.[26] Kittel et al. indicate the years 1996–1997 as particularly bad example of the VRE drought, they call for an additional EU-wide energy storage of 50 to 170 TWh (on top of current projections) to accommodate a series of events of this magnitude.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "When the wind goes, gas fills in the gap | Q1 2021 Quarterly Report". Electric Insights. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Dark doldrums: When wind and sun take a break". en-former.com. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  3. ^ Matsuo, Yuhji; Endo, Seiya; Nagatomi, Yu; Shibata, Yoshiaki; Komiyama, Ryoichi; Fujii, Yasumasa (1 June 2020). "Investigating the economics of the power sector under high penetration of variable renewable energies". Applied Energy. 267: 113956. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113956. ISSN 0306-2619. S2CID 216301290.
  4. ^ Ohba, Masamichi; Kanno, Yuki; Nohara, Daisuke (8 December 2021). "Climatology of dark doldrums in Japan". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 155: 111927. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111927. S2CID 245067748.
  5. ^ Li et al. 2021, p. 2.
  6. ^ a b Li et al. 2021, p. 7.
  7. ^ "Was ist die Dunkelflaute? | Definition" [What are the Dark Doldrums?]. next-kraftwerke.de (in German). Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  8. ^ a b Li, Bowen; Basu, Sukanta; Watson, Simon J.; Russchenberg, Herman W. J. (2020). "Mesoscale modeling of a "Dunkelflaute" event". Wind Energy. 24 (1): 5–23. doi:10.1002/we.2554. ISSN 1095-4244.
  9. ^ Li et al. 2021, p. 6.
  10. ^ Li et al. 2021, p. 11.
  11. ^ Li et al. 2021, p. 1.
  12. ^ Ohba, Masamichi; Kanno, Yuki; Nohara, Daisuke (8 December 2021). "Climatology of dark doldrums in Japan". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 155: 111927. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111927. S2CID 245067748.
  13. ^ Ohba, Masamichi; Kanno, Yuki; Shigeru, Bando (21 January 2023). "Effects of meteorological and climatological factors on extremely high residual load and possible future changes". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 175: 113188. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2023.113188.
  14. ^ Walker, Tamsin (8 February 2017). "What happens with German renewables in the dead of winter?". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  15. ^ Ohba, Masamichi; Kanno, Yuki; Shigeru, Bando (21 January 2023). "Effects of meteorological and climatological factors on extremely high residual load and possible future changes". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 175: 113188. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2023.113188.
  16. ^ Li et al. 2021, p. 9.
  17. ^ McDonnell, Tim (13 December 2022). "Can Europe survive the dreaded dunkelflaute?". Quartz. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  18. ^ Modelling 2050: Electricity System Analysis (PDF) (Report). Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  19. ^ a b "The dreaded Dunkelflaute is no reason to slow UK's energy push". Financial Times. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  20. ^ Kosowski, Kai; Diercks, Frank (2021). "Quo Vadis, Grid Stability?" (PDF). Atw. 66 (2): 16–26. ISSN 1431-5254.
  21. ^ Ernst, Damien. "Big infrastructures for fighting climate change" (PDF). Université de Liège.
  22. ^ Abbott, Malcolm; Cohen, Bruce (2020). "Issues associated with the possible contribution of battery energy storage in ensuring a stable electricity system". The Electricity Journal. 33 (6): 106771. doi:10.1016/j.tej.2020.106771. ISSN 1040-6190. S2CID 218966955.
  23. ^ Harrabin, Roger (2 June 2021). "Major project aims to clear clean energy hurdle". BBC News. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  24. ^ Kittel, Roth & Schill 2024, pp. 1, 5.
  25. ^ Sahoo & Timmann 2023, p. 49691.
  26. ^ Kittel, Roth & Schill 2024, p. 14.
  27. ^ Kittel, Roth & Schill 2024, pp. 9, 14.

Sources

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