California and Texas are setting record after record after record for renewables on the grid

There are many forms of renewable energy available today, and some are better suited for certain areas of the world than others. A good comparison is California and Texas, two states that are repeatedly breaking records for the production of two different forms of natural, renewable energy. 

This past March, California’s Independent System Operator (Cal ISO) announced that the state secured a record 3,926 megawatts of utility-scale solar energy on its system. The next day, it broke its own record with a smidge over 4 gigawatts of solar power generation.

That record was recently broken again, when Cal ISO announced a record 4,767 MW of utility-scale solar power on June 1. 

Worth noting is the fact that these records are not one-off days. During the month of May, solar made up 6% of Cal ISO’s total electric load for the month; that’s three times the amount from exactly a year ago. What’s more, during peak hours, solar energy was powering about 14% of total energy in May (California added 2,145 MW of utility-scale solar in 2013). 

Now, while California’s numbers are impressive, so too are those being recorded in Texas, where, on March 26, the state recorded a new peak wind output of 10,296 MW. This new record was nearly 30%  of the total electric load on Texas’s grid, and beat out two other previous records set just one week prior.

Worth noting is the fact that many expect the current record to be quickly be surpassed — you see, Texas has more than 12 gigawatts of operational utility-scale wind capacity, and just recently completed a huge transmission project that will allow wind to be moved across the vast state to load pockets where needed.

More than 3,500 miles of new transmission expansions have been laid down, and they’ve been one of the biggest reasons why fewer wind curtailments are being seen in Texas. In 2012, hourly curtailments went above 1,000 MW on a fairly regular basis. That level dropped in the second half of 2013 and into 2014 as the transmission corridors were completed. 

The record setting numbers in California and Texas are part of a much larger trend we’re seeing for renewables. Just last year, the U.S. solar market grew by an astounding 41%. Naturally, California was leading this charge, having installed more than half of that capacity. 

60,000 MW of wind was added in 2013 (per the American Wind Energy Association) — this slightly beats out 2012 as being the best year ever for wind in the U.S. 
As researchers continue to figure out the appropriate technology for the different areas of the world, expect more reports with even higher records to be published in the near future. 

Story via spectrum.ieee.org