Too much energy?

[Atheist-Lite]

Powerstations produce a three phase supply - helps with distance distribution over power pylons - whilst the domestic supply is two phase so when everyone goes to sleep the electricity that was going to the sub-stations to be stepped down for domestic use must go someplace - that's usually raising water in the lakes. If it's been raining a lot, like it does in Scotland from time to time, along with having windy nights then it is best to switch the windgenerators off?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

It costs an absolute fortune to kill a turbine and restart it from cold in a conventional station. That is why they only shut them down for maintenance once a year.

The last ship I was on had four 750 Kw generators. We started and stopped them all the time. (Drove the CO nuts, too. )

[charlou]

If it's been raining a lot, like it does in Scotland from time to time,

[mistermack]

The point is that they shouldn't be getting caught out like this.
They knew the parameters when these projects were planned. How come this has not been planned for? The place in Wales is the obvious answer. You don't just dissipate the energy, you store it, and use it later.
Hydro is cheap to switch on and off, so it's the ideal way to store energy. It's unbelievable that they didn't plan for this with some local hydro storage projects.
Scotland is ready made for it, and they only have to look across the sea to Norway to see how it's done.
Another thing that they could do is to write contracts with power-hungry companies for price bonuses if they time their heavy power use to times of surplus. Companies that make steel and the like would happily gobble up extra power at a discount price.
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