There are other ways to replicate the ‘inertia’ that fossil fuel plants provide to the electricity system, which keeps the system in stable operation and allows it to ‘ride through’ disturbances, according to a report from the UK Energy Research Centre.

It says more inertia than expected can be replicated with very fast response frequency-control systems and synthetic inertia. The report, Costs and Impacts of Intermittency, updates a 2006 assessment.