here’s another idea about increasing renewable generation capacity: site solar plants in s. humboldt near the main transmission line that comes north from mendocino county, and in e. humboldt by the main transmission line that comes west from the central valley. as these are the key incoming capacity constraints, turn them into maximum export facilities during peak sunshine hours. that is, export full capacity across the lines to the grid during daylight, then reverse the flow during non-daylight from the grid to cover local demand within the county. thus, build two sets of solar capacity, one for local demand, and one for export.

[wr]

very cool. two comments.

1. what is the sum of surplus power that can be exported during hours of over-capacity in humboldt?

2. can you re-size (increase) the solar and wind generation in your model so that the net surplus exported by humboldt matches the capacity gap between biomass generation and hours of excessive power demand? how about a second wind farm and a third solar facility?

this way you would have a theoretical net of zero rather than a negative as you have at present.

[wr]