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run-of-river hydropower is one of the oldest form of electricity generation but it is not dipatchable: in the dry season, those plants deliver less. |
Hydropower with a reservoir is dispatchable. It may be seen as intermittent, as stored hydro is often used as a peaker. |
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The use of intermittent sources in an electric power system usually displaces storable primary energy that would otherwise be consumed by other [[power station]]s. Another option is to store electricity generated by non-dispatchable energy sources for later use when needed, e.g. in the form of [[pumped storage]], [[Compressed_air_energy_storage|compressed air]] or in [[Battery (electricity)|batteries]]. A third option is the [[sector coupling]] e.g. by electrode heating for district heating schemes.
In the past electrical generation was mostly dispatchable and consumer demand led how much and when to dispatch power. The trend in adding intermittent sources such as wind
The displaced dispatchable generation could be coal, natural gas, biofuels, nuclear, geothermal or conventional hydro. Rather than starting and stopping nuclear or geothermal it is effective to use them as constant [[base load]] power, when that power is not needed it can displace heating fuels or be converted to storage for later use. Biofuels and hydro can be saved for later when intermittents are not generating power. [[Fossil fuel phase-out|Alternatives to burning]] coal and natural gas with the production of [[greenhouse gas]]es may eventually make them a [[stranded asset]] that is left in the ground. Highly integrated grids favor flexibility and performance over cost, resulting in more plant capacity and lower [[capacity factor]]s.<ref>https://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/death-capacity-factor-how-wind-solar-ultimately-win-game.html</ref>
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