by ROCKMAN » Thu 05 Jun 2014, 19:42:50
K - Encouraging update date...thanks. And gives me the opening to toss out info about Texas. As we say here: "It ain't braggin' if it's true." And all this going on in THE oil/NG producer in the country. Where the oil patch has the politicians "in its hip pocket". Where the fossil fuel industry is doing all it can to squash the alts according to some I'll informed individuals.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) announced last week that March 26 saw a new wind power record: 10,296 MW at 8:48 PM. This represented close to 29% of the nearly 36,000 MW of electricity on the power grid at that moment, and smashed the record set only weeks ago by 600 MW. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the 10,296 MW is the most for any U.S. power system to date. (The following day, 9,868 MW of wind generation achieved a record 38.43 percent of the 25,677 MW system wide demand at 3:19 a.m.)
1,433 MW of the wind resource came from turbines on the Gulf Coast, while 8,863 MW came from other regions, mostly West Texas. That area of the state is dotted with wind farms, in the specially designated Competitive Renewable Energy Zones, which are linked by approximately 18,000 MW of transmission to facilitate wind integration. With the continuing growth in wind generation capacity and the completion of new transmission projects to get it to the grid, ERCOT is making greater use of this resource. Texas has more developed wind power capacity than any other state. According to ERCOT, 11,000 MW of generators already contribute to the grid, and another 8,000 MW are due to come on line shortly. In addition, more than 26,700 MW are ‘under study.’ In 2013, wind power contributed 9.9% to the state’s overall electricity supply, up from 9.2% the year prior. With recent forecasting tools and a proactive approach to wind development, Texas is helping to demonstrate where this resource can go.
And as a little dig to my cohorts in the Land of the Greenies, Washington state: Although not a crude oil-producing state, Washington ranked fifth in the nation in crude oil-refining capacity. And imports that oil by pipeline, rail and tankers sailing in from Alaska. Washington ranked 10th in the nation in net generation of electricity from wind energy in 2013. They have done good with hydro. But that's an old story...what you done lately? LOL.