Edited 13 Jan 2018 22:17, 3 years ago, edited by DirtyBallast

Coal ( and gas and nuclear) turbines have been tripping for generations. The bufree was always a spinning reserve. Like any piece of industrial equipment things go wrong.and honestly  big bloody deal.  smeg happens. This is just a media beat up so don't fall for it.

Solar and wind are not excempt although their smaller unit size reduces the impact.

Weather prediction is I suspect less reliable than a coal fired turbine and to date and back OT what is there when there is no wind or sun? Currently it's called a black out.

If the media factually reports that a unit has tripped out 5 times recently, whether it is unusual or not, how is that a beat up? There was no inference made about the bigger picture that we are all discussing in this thread at all.

I hear what you're saying regarding the predictability of weather, but consider all possibilities:
Predictability of it being light during the day and dark at night is 100%.
Predictability of wind conditions conducive to wind powered generation is not 100%, but very high.
Predictability of a coal fired generating unit running reliably is not 100%, but very high.
Predictability of a coal fired generating unit NOT running reliably, and tripping out, is 0%.

These 0% events have been happening pretty often lately. If they are not unusual, it is even more reason to move on to something more reliable.