{"id":4531,"date":"2026-10-28T16:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T23:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xenetwork.org\/ets\/?post_type=xen_episodes&p=4531"},"modified":"2026-10-28T22:23:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T05:23:02","slug":"episode-286-a-moving-target","status":"publish","type":"xen_episodes","link":"https:\/\/xenetwork.org\/ets\/episodes\/episode-286-a-moving-target\/","title":{"rendered":"[Episode #286] \u2013 A Moving Target"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doubters of the transition have always been quick to share doom scenarios about grids losing stability once wind and solar supplied a large share of their power. In the Energy Transition Show's early episodes<\/a>, our host Chris noted how defenders of the status quo \"have claimed for decades that the grid can't support more than 3 percent or 5 percent or 20 percent, it's a moving target, of variable renewables without risking blackouts\u2026\"<\/p>\n

Years later, reality leaves transition skeptics less and less room to maneuver. So is there really an upper limit on how much wind and solar a grid can handle? In 2025<\/a>, renewables provided more than 77% of South Australia's electricity generation, nearly half of it from wind. And for half an hour in April 2026, 98.8% of the power on Britain's transmission grid came from zero-carbon sources, by NESO's own measure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Certainly along the way there have been blackouts blamed on renewables, such as 2016 in South Australia, or Spain and Portugal in 2025. If you only followed the headlines, you'd think the doubters had been right all along.<\/p>\n

But grid engineers keep learning how to adapt, and the target keeps moving. In this episode of our documentary series, we start with conversations from the show's past and how they connect to recent ones about grid stability, including what the official investigation into Spain's blackout actually found, and how Britain gives its grid inertia without burning fuel.<\/p>\n

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Featured in this episode<\/strong>, in the order we hear their conversations, with titles as they were at the time of each recording:<\/p>\n