The following question was recently posted on Quora:
“What conditions favor local renewable energy development by local governments especially in the absence of robust national support and poor national grid conditions?”
Read the following response from Mike Barnard, energy expert:
There are several factors which will incite or create conditions for success for local renewables. My assumption in regards to this answer are that this is for smaller, more rural communities, not urban areas of 80,000+ people.
- Polluted air - linking renewables to obvious pollution from fossil fuel generation whether than is coal, oil or diesel will enable shifts
- Expensive diesel or oil generation - fully costing alternative generation methods and including variability of fossil fuel prices into the future makes justification of high capital cost / low operating cost renewables easier
- Common power problems - brownouts or blackouts create a persuasive argument for community action
- A persuasive champion - a charismatic person committed to renewables with the persistence to continue to move them forward will be of great assistance
- Well off locals who will benefit - wind turbines and solar panels on larger properties which became low maintenance revenue sources can ease a lot of concerns
- Local expertise with electrical grids - effectively, the municipality or region will be running their own grid, which requires maintaining the supply with cycle and voltage ranges. This is a technical discipline which will be made easier by have expertise which does not have to relocate to the region. Retraining is possible, but starting from depth is much better.
- Local manufacturing - Many wind generators are fairly simple mechanical devices which can be built locally from existing information and local resources. They will be nowhere near as efficient as large-scale manufactured devices from deeply expert companies, but can keep more of the money inside the district and spread it around, which will win hearts and minds as well.
- Used equipment market - Utility-scale generation assets, especially in wind energy, are often repowered short of end of life and with more hands-on and frequent maintenance will last substantially longer. Many community grids are opting for second-hand wind turbines to reduce upfront capital costs and transfer savings into local employment.
- Local skilled manpower - An existing pool of local tradespeople with electrical, construction, concrete, metal-working and plumbing skills can see extended employment, once again keeping money within the community and winning hearts and minds.
- Existing small dam for passive and active backup - Wind and solar are intermittent, and managing them locally without a major grid doing the heavy lifting can be difficult. A local hydro resource allows water to passively accumulate when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining, and be tapped more aggressively in the calm and dark. It’s also potentially simpler to pump water from a downstream lake to the upstream dam using excess solar and wind energy during the day as active backup. Failing this, more expensive storage mechanisms must be found.
- Expert consulting - Conditions vary substantially from community to community. Some will benefit more from household solar and small wind turbines which also feed the local grid. Others will benefit from a couple of large wind turbines which tie into a larger regional grid. Knowing the right strategy will make a substantial difference.