Name: 工程師解釋可再生能源電網設計中的三個關鍵問題 | WSJ Pro Perfected (Engineer Explains Three Key Issues in Renewable Grid Design | WSJ Pro Perfected)
Uploaded: 2025-06-04T03:32:46.000Z
Duration: 6 min 17 s

Renewable energy, like wind and solar, has created a hidden infrastructure problem.

風能和太陽能等可再生能源造成了隱性的基礎設施問題。

關係子句

The issue is that power grids, which carry electricity to homes and businesses, weren't designed for wind and solar.

問題在於，為家庭和企業輸送電力的電網並不是為風能和太陽能設計的。

And even though renewables have become a larger part of the overall power supply, grid infrastructure hasn't kept up.

儘管可再生能源在整個電力供應中的比重越來越大，但電網基礎設施卻沒有跟上。

It's why some grid experts say renewables contributed to the severity of the blackout across Spain and Portugal in April.

這就是為什麼一些電網專家說，可再生能源導致了 4 月份西班牙和葡萄牙大停電的嚴重性。

So we asked a mechanical engineer with over 15 years of experience to explain the hidden risks of renewables, and three ways to make the grid more resilient to disruptions.

是以，我們請一位擁有超過 15 年經驗的機械工程師來解釋可再生能源隱藏的風險，以及使電網更能抵禦干擾的三種方法。

Renewable power, wind and solar specifically, don't provide something we call inherent rotational inertia, which is something that has provided stability to the grid for decades, since basically it was first invented.

可再生能源，特別是風能和太陽能，並不能提供我們稱之為固有轉動慣量的東西，而這種東西在幾十年前就已經為電網提供了穩定性。

Conventional power plants, like coal and natural gas, have inertia built into their design.

傳統的發電廠，如煤炭和天然氣發電廠，在設計上都有慣性。

This is a 3D-printed model of a gas turbine.

這是一個 3D 打印的燃氣輪機模型。

So we burn the natural gas here, and it creates this large spinning piece of rotating machinery.

是以，我們在這裡燃燒天然氣，並製造出這個大型旋轉機械。

And this thing, this whole deal, is connected to a generator that might be sitting over here that produces our electricity.

而這個東西，這整個交易，是連接到一個發電機，可能是坐在這裡，生產我們的電力。

All conventional power plants produce electricity that matches the frequency on the grid, which is 60 hertz in the U.S.

所有傳統發電廠生產的電力都與電網頻率相匹配，美國的電網頻率為 60 赫茲。

And all the power generators, they all need to be in sync.

所有的發電機都需要同步運行。

If a power plant goes down, the inertia provides buffer time for other energy sources to jump in.

如果發電廠癱瘓，慣性會為其他能源提供緩衝時間。

Imagine how if you're riding a bike and you stop pedaling, you continue to move forward.

想象一下，如果你騎著自行車，停止踩踏，你是如何繼續前進的。

The momentum that you have would help you get up the initial portion of that hill.

你所擁有的動力將幫助你爬上山坡的最初部分。

The grid can only tolerate a small change in frequency.

電網只能承受很小的頻率變化。

Anything too drastic, and power plants will disconnect from the grid to protect themselves from damage.

如果太過激烈，發電廠就會斷開與電網的連接，以保護自己免受損害。

Using more renewable energy and fewer conventional power sources means there's less inherent inertia in the network, which can increase the risk of widespread blackouts.

使用更多的可再生能源和更少的傳統能源，意味著網絡中固有的惰性減少，這可能會增加大面積停電的風險。

Solar, by its nature, is not actually rotating.

就其本質而言，太陽能實際上並不旋轉。

And wind turbines, even though they are spinning, don't rotate at speeds that match the frequency of the grid.

而風力渦輪機即使在旋轉，其轉速也無法與電網頻率相匹配。

So one of the best solutions to address the lack of inherent rotational inertia is to use a grid-forming inverter.

是以，解決固有轉動慣量不足的最佳方案之一就是使用併網逆變器。

This technology essentially provides renewable energy with synthetic inertia.

這項技術本質上是利用合成慣性提供可再生能源。

Most inverters at renewable power plants today are grid-following, meaning they rely on the grid's voltage and frequency.

目前，可再生能源發電廠的大多數逆變器都是電網跟隨型的，這意味著它們依賴於電網的電壓和頻率。

So if there's an outage, the inverter loses its reference and can't function.

是以，如果發生停電，逆變器就會失去基準，無法工作。

Grid-forming inverters are more advanced.

They can operate independently and support the grid when there's a disruption.

它們可以獨立運行，並在電網中斷時為電網提供支持。

You could imagine it as sort of a constant supply of current coming out of the solar panel.

你可以把它想象成從太陽能電池板輸出的恆定電流。

But our grid operates on alternating current.

但我們的電網使用的是交流電。

And so we need to take this blue line, and we need to turn it into a waveform that's operating at 60 hertz.

是以，我們需要將這條藍線轉換成頻率為 60 赫茲的波形。

That's what a grid-forming inverter does.

And because it's adjusting everything electronically, it can react to frequency changes much faster than a conventional generator.

而且，由於它通過電子方式調節一切，是以對頻率變化的反應速度比傳統發電機快得多。

It also has an endless supply of synthetic inertia.

它還擁有無窮無盡的合成慣性。

Grid-forming inverters are really, really great at allowing us to, say, build a microgrid.

成網逆變器在讓我們建立微電網方面確實非常出色。

So imagine a military installation, for instance.

是以，想象一下，比如說一個軍事設施。

But Todd says they're not as effective when it comes to managing a larger region.

但託德說，在管理更大的區域時，它們並不那麼有效。

You could imagine you've got all these different regions of some state that are all connected.

你可以想象，某個州的所有這些不同地區都是相互連接的。

With rotational inertia, we have decades and decades of understanding and history of managing across large regions.

利用旋轉慣性，我們對跨大區管理有幾十年的瞭解和歷史。

With an increasing penetration of renewables, we find ourselves in a new world where we have new challenges to address.

隨著可再生能源滲透率的不斷提高，我們發現自己身處一個新世界，需要應對新的挑戰。

Grid-forming inverters also require additional measurements, like voltage, frequency, and temperature.

併網逆變器還需要額外的測量，如電壓、頻率和溫度。

And that can be done by, imagine, say, we put in a whole bunch of instrumentation all over the grid to make sure that we've got awareness on what's happening at each location or within the transmission line on the grid.

我們可以通過在整個電網中安裝大量儀器來確保我們能夠了解每個地點或電網輸電線路中發生的情況。

Todd's second solution to renewable energy's lack of inherent inertia is something called a synchronous condenser.

針對可再生能源缺乏固有慣性的問題，Todd 的第二個解決方案是同步冷凝器。

I am a mechanical engineer, and so I'm a bit of sucker for rotational machines.

我是一名機械工程師，所以我對旋轉機械有點痴迷。

And a synchronous condenser is just that, a large, spinning piece of machinery similar to the gas turbine model you saw earlier.

同步冷凝器就是這樣一個旋轉的大型機械，類似於你之前看到的燃氣輪機模型。

Instead of actually injecting natural gas into this system, we actually take electricity from the solar panel, and we get this large, spinning mass that provides additional rotational inertia.

我們實際上並沒有將天然氣注入這個系統，而是從太陽能電池板中獲取電能，並獲得這個旋轉的大品質，提供額外的旋轉慣性。

He says, ideally, this should be paired with a grid-forming inverter to get the best of both worlds.

他說，理想情況下，這應該與併網逆變器搭配使用，以獲得兩全其美的效果。

There is a trade-off that we have to acknowledge.

我們必須承認，這是一種權衡。

Not all that electricity is being sold into the marketplace.

並非所有的電力都在市場上出售。

Instead, some of that electricity needs to go into spinning this large piece of steel.

相反，部分電力需要用於旋轉這塊大鋼板。

It's a cost that is incurred, but it provides some level of risk-adjustment benefit to the overall grid so that it ensures that it continues to operate reliably.

這是一種成本，但它為整個電網提供了一定程度的風險調整效益，從而確保電網繼續可靠運行。

So our third opportunity to improve the resilience of the grid would be to have backup power supply, what we call battery energy storage systems, or BESS.

是以，我們提高電網恢復能力的第三個機會是建立備份電源，即我們所說的電池儲能系統（BESS）。

So there's a transmission tower that's out here in the distance, and we provide power along these transmission lines, and then eventually it gets dropped down to this battery energy storage system.

遠處有一座輸電塔，我們通過這些輸電線路提供電力，最終將電力輸送到這個電池儲能系統。

It stores power in one location, and it has a large set of inverters in another location.

它在一個地方儲存電力，在另一個地方有一大套逆變器。

And so the battery, this fills up with energy over time, and then it gets provided to these inverters, and then those inverters eventually will feed back power into the grid when it is needed.

是以，隨著時間的推移，電池會充滿能量，然後將能量提供給這些逆變器，最後這些逆變器會在需要時將電力反饋給電網。

If there's an unexpected outage, batteries can deploy excess energy to stabilize the grid.

如果發生意外停電，電池可以調配多餘的能量來穩定電網。

The use of battery energy storage systems has been increasing at a significant rate over the last handful of years.

在過去幾年裡，電池儲能系統的使用率一直在大幅增長。

But prior to that, the cost of batteries were very high.

但在此之前，電池的成本非常高。

Now the cost of batteries have declined so dramatically that this is a solution set that is being brought to bear in significant quantities all across the world.

現在，電池的成本已大幅下降，全世界都在大量採用這種解決方案。

As renewable energy becomes more prevalent, Todd says the key to reducing the risk of widespread outages is to keep building and improving the infrastructure supporting it.

託德說，隨著可再生能源的日益普及，降低大面積停電風險的關鍵在於不斷建設和改善支持可再生能源的基礎設施。

It's critical for us to keep thinking about how do we design in a way that we best balance all of these trade-offs.

對我們來說，關鍵是要不斷思考如何在設計中最好地平衡所有這些權衡。