Renewables looks to find the right balance

The adoption of wind and solar is growing rapidly. But can the technology overcome its current limitations?

Wind and solar renewables are booming. As technologies improve, costs are falling and governments, to varying degrees of financial assistance and orderly planning, are helping to support capacity expansions. But two fundamental challenges remain. Wind and solar generation are inherently intermittent, requiring either storage or back-up thermal generation, or realistically both. And, even with ever improving economics and stellar power demand prospects, the entry of yet more renewables capacity into existing markets requires a coherent policy framework—whether in a centrally planned, monopolistic market structure or a liberalised environment. Battery storage is improving, but scale is still l