![]() ![]() The extreme weather is a reminder of the February freeze in 2021 that left millions of Texans without power, water and heat for days during a deadly storm as ERCOT scrambled to prevent a grid collapse after an unusually large amount of generation shut. The power grid is made up of many different companies that generate electricity with natural gas, coal, nuclear power, wind and solar energy before transmission companies send it to homes and. Coal power was 17.9 of the energy on Texas grid in 2020. That makes Texas a leader in wind energy, contributing over a quarter of. Hydroelectric power contributes just a small fraction to the Texas power grid, while coal-fired plants make up most of the remainder. Wind power provided 22.8 of the electricity on Texas grid in 2020. In 2021, 38 percent of that power came from zero-carbon energy sources solar, wind, and nuclear and 42 came from natural gas. SPP forecast power use is expected to hit 53,760 MW on Tuesday, which would break the current all-time high of 52,028 MW on July 15. Natural gas supplied 45.5 of Texas electric grid in 2020. That compares with an average of $74 so far this year, $141 in 2021 and a five-year (2017-2021) average of $56. Power prices at the ERCOT North Hub, which includes Dallas, jumped to $220 per megawatt hour (MWh) for Tuesday from $144 for Monday. One megawatt can power about 200 homes on a hot summer day in Texas. That is a common step grid operators take to ensure resources will be available during times of high demand.ĮRCOT said power use hit a preliminary 79,039 megawatts (MW) on Monday, topping the prior all-time high of 78,419 MW on July 12, and will reach 80,318 MW on Tuesday and 81,480 MW on Wednesday. This map approximates the boundaries of the four electric power grids, with actual territories spreading slightly beyond. SPP, which operates the grid for almost 18 million people in 17 states from North Dakota to Texas, has asked its members to postpone maintenance on some critical equipment like power lines and generating plants. Last week, ERCOT met demand in part by urging customers to conserve energy to avoid taking much bigger actions to reduce usage, like rotating outages. Both cities normally average 94 F (34 C) at this time of year, according to federal data.ĮRCOT, which operates the grid for more than 26 million customers representing about 90% of the state's power load, got permission from state environmental regulators to allow power plants to exceed their air permit pollution limits on Monday. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the agency that manages the power grid, said demand for electricity could top 80,000 megawatts for the first time ever which would exceed even the. Houston is set to hit 100 F (38 C) on Wednesday and Thursday. The temperature in Oklahoma City is expected to reach 111 degrees Fahrenheit (44 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday, which would be the hottest day in a decade there. It seems a bit odd since, unlike February 2021, Texans have not had to suffer through days on end without power during a major weather emergency this summer. Morgan Stanley estimates that Vistra is sitting on 2 to 2.5 gigawatts of unhedged capacity, or electricity it has already produced but hasn’t sold to the grid.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |