Ah, okay, I see where the confusion arises. I was referring to energy and you were referring to power(energy multiplied by time).

No worries, thanks.

why don't we require wind farms to supply synchronous and steady power? This would require wind farm operators to install any necessary equipment to keep their supply smooth and in phase.

Synchronous generators require a phasing reference to be added to a grid.

Wind farms do provide synchronous power, but they can't readily provide a reliable sync reference due to the nature of their energy source.

It may not be a bad idea to set each one up with some form of independent synchronising source though. It wouldn't help in extreme wind conditions, when they are either underpowered or shut down to prevent overspeed, but it would allow them to provide power independent of a stable grid reference, for example if an interconnector were to be damaged.

I'm coming more strongly to the view that a range of wind generators with different operating parameters should be incorporated within each site. In that way, there would be some power available across a broader range of wind speeds and during some periods there would be extra available as the operating envelopes of different generators overlapped. This extra could then be stored for later use.

To this point there hasn't been much investment in storage, other than pumped hydro. The scope for new investment opportunities is large.

"To this point there hasn't been much investment in storage, other than pumped hydro. The scope for new investment opportunities is large."

That's cart before the horse. The most breath-taking storage breakthrough in history is first needed.

Only, coal, gas, hydro and nuclear truly fuel the world, or very nearly. Oil has nearly had its day in EROEI terms and is reducing to becoming an extension of the main grid, like renewables. Electric cars should soon proliferate.

EROEI of solar is poor and is reduced virtually to break-even when storage is included (Prieto and Hall). Wind has viable EROEI when the wind blows but, like solar, storage eats into this. Both require storage AND F-F backup.

Must we continue dreaming of a storage breakthrough so incredible that it virtually makes renewables dispatchable, or should we go with what has worked in France for 60 years

Yes Luciferase, investment is needed in order to stimulate development, thanks for clarifying that.

In relying on Prieto and Hall, you're not taking any of the development work on renewables into account. I'm not discounting their analysis, I haven't read it, just pointing out that 4 years (since it was written) is a very long time in today's world and many of their references are considerably older than that.

It was a useful snapshot of the situation that obtained at the time and an excellent stimulus to development.