Blackout scare underlines industry dilemma [power generation reliability]

Gas imports, fossil fuel, nuclear and wind - can we rely on any of these to keep the lights on? This article discusses the fact that all sources of electricity, whether nuclear, fossil fuel or renewable are fallible and none can be relied upon 100%. It is precisely for this reason that many countries, including the UK, have developed electrical grid systems where shortfalls from one source can be made up from other sources. A descriptive illustration from Spain showed how wind energy made up the shortfall from a range of conventional power stations. In periods of low wind, however, the reverse happens which serves to demonstrate how wind can be and is integrated to European power systems.