How does the electricity grid work? In this video we look at the basics necessary to understand the challenges that come with weather-dependent and therefore variable renewable electricity generators.

Key takeaways:

• Electricity supply and demand must always be perfectly balanced
• Electricity demand varies through space and time
• Traditional electricity generators were mostly controllable (dispatchable), but renewables are weather-dependent, so they also vary in space and time
• Traditional grids have base load and peak load power plants; renewable grids need new ways to deal with variability