Feeding the Grid From Regenerative Sources, the Way to a Sustainable Energy Supply?

Abstract Electricity produced from wind or sun is not matched to consumption by electrical loads and needs to be conditioned for general use. The strategy pursued in some industrial European countries of granting priority to regenerative sources and subsidizing the infeed of raw natural energy into the electrical grid is ineffective when mainly thermal power stations are employed for grid control; the control should include regenerative sources as well. Also, part of the expected fuel .saving by the use of wind or solar energy is lost through the control of the thermal stations. When further expanding the use of renewable sources it is necessary to develop large energy storage facilities for decoupling generation from consumption; chemical storage could facilitate a flexible demand-driven reconversion to electricity with stationary or mobile fuel cells. This is a wide future field for power electronics.