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From Reuters:
June 30 (Reuters) – The Texas energy grid comfortably met report demand throughout this week’s warmth wave with considerable energy provide from wind and photo voltaic vegetation, information from the grid operator confirmed.
We now have information via April for Texas, when it comes to proportion of electrical energy technology, that exhibits why we now have this final result.
Determine 1: Proportion of electrical energy technology from utilities from coal (blue), pure fuel (tan), nuclear (inexperienced), renewable (grey), nuclear (crimson), all different (orange). Supply: EIA.
The above information is as much as earlier than summer time however here’s what Reuters notes:
Up to now this week, solar energy technology peaked at a report of 13,086 MW on June 25, in response to ERCOT. Wind energy, in the meantime, reached a excessive of 24,237 MW on June 28, which was beneath its all-time excessive of 27,044-MW set in Might 2022, in response to federal vitality and ERCOT information.
ERCOT has added over 6,300 megawatts (MW) of wind and solar energy vegetation and over 1,300 MW of battery storage over the previous yr. The batteries assist stabilize the grid, as battery operators retailer energy when costs and demand are low and promote it again when costs and demand are excessive.
The storage enterprise has been so good in Texas that traders together with BlackRock and UBS have purchased into battery tasks.
Replace, 7/2/2023:
A reader notes:
Utilities 101:
First, month-to-month technology information doesn’t clarify a utility’s potential to satisfy peak demand.
Second, the share of any given useful resource throughout a peak occasion doesn’t *essentially* counsel that specific useful resource is the explanation a utility was capable of meet peak demand.
Good factors, which had been addressed partly in earlier posts (e.g., right here). Nonetheless, we will look to when peak wind and photo voltaic technology is, and the way it pertains to peak demand (as I recall often round 4-5 pm throughout the summer time months) to think about whether it is mitigating peak load capability points. Right here’s in the present day’s graph of electrical energy technology.
Supply: ERCOT, accessed 7/2/2023.
As a aspect be aware, I’ve had three alternatives to work together meaningfully with the problems of electrical energy technology, and peak load administration. First was the controversy between Reagan’s DoE and de facto CRS (capability technology), the Cheney/Vice President’s vitality process drive (all the pieces!), and the California electrical energy disaster of 2001. In any case, due to Econned for filling me in on the subtleties of the electrical energy technology/consumption points.
Addendum, 7/2/2023:
Some persons are nonetheless skeptical of the position of renewables within the latest warmth wave. From Forbes in the present day:
And right here is the superb statistic that few folks know – Texas accounted for almost 70% of grid battery additions within the U.S. within the first three months of 2023, leading to a complete capability of three,300 MW, nearly all of which have come on-line since early 2021. In reality, Texas handed California final yr in complete put in photo voltaic and nearly saved tempo with California in terms of new grid battery installations.
However throughout this historic warmth wave, it’s been all these new, low-cost wind, photo voltaic and batteries which have saved the grid afloat and Texans cool – in lots of instances saving lives. Photo voltaic and wind offered 35% of statewide energy final Tuesday and generated a report 31,500 MW Wednesday, which greater than coated the 9,600 MW of electrical energy misplaced when excessive warmth knocked a number of pure fuel and coal vegetation offline. And simply as solar energy began falling within the night, batteries kicked in instantly to get Texas via essentially the most troublesome a part of the day when the solar was setting however the ACs had been nonetheless cranking.
This all tallies with what vitality system researchers have been saying for years: A mixture of wind, photo voltaic, and battery storage are usually extra dependable than fossil gasoline technology to deal with durations of extraordinarily excessive demand, particularly if these peaks happen for brief durations throughout a day.
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