The issue isn't that the grid can't handle large amount of renewables, it's that renewables aren't consistent.
Large thermal plants provide inertia that renewables simply can't provide. A lot of the work around incorporating renewables into grids is around the provision of synthetic inertia and how to manage sudden drops in supply.
Battery storage is one solution. Better demand response solutions backed by energy markets that incentivise the participation of large numbers of energy users is another.
Grids that have a high level of interconnection with other grids also reduces the impact of inconsistent supply, but not every grid has enough inter-connections for that to be a viable full solution. (See ERCOT in Texas, AEMO in Australia, Eirgrid in Ireland for examples)
Here in Ireland, we frequently run the grid up to 80% renewables, but the grid operator only does that because they have the mechanisms in places to handle sudden drops in supply.
Large thermal plants provide inertia that renewables simply can't provide. A lot of the work around incorporating renewables into grids is around the provision of synthetic inertia and how to manage sudden drops in supply.
Battery storage is one solution. Better demand response solutions backed by energy markets that incentivise the participation of large numbers of energy users is another.
Grids that have a high level of interconnection with other grids also reduces the impact of inconsistent supply, but not every grid has enough inter-connections for that to be a viable full solution. (See ERCOT in Texas, AEMO in Australia, Eirgrid in Ireland for examples)
Here in Ireland, we frequently run the grid up to 80% renewables, but the grid operator only does that because they have the mechanisms in places to handle sudden drops in supply.