Michael Weber, an energy expert and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said: “They are rocking. It really saves us a lot of heartache and a lot of money.”
This is a relatively recent phenomenon for the state.
Jonathan Devilbiss, Operations Research Analyst at the Energy Information Administration, said:
Renewable energies not only helped keep the power on during the early heat waves of the scorching heat, but also helped keep costs down. Natural gas and coal prices are high in the global energy crisis, but wind- and solar-powered renewables have no fuel costs.
“Wind and solar prices haven’t doubled in the past year like other resources, so they act as a hedge against rising fuel prices,” said Josh Marks, an energy researcher at the University of Texas at Austin. I have. ”
Peak demand at peak times
Texas and other states are hot with three-digit temperatures and dangerous heat indices. Texas climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon told CNN that San Antonio is a particularly hotspot. Recently, it reached 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit, setting a new record before July.
Texas is accustomed to the heat, but this year “the weather will be August in May and June,” Webber told CNN.
According to experts, the Texas grid was built to withstand the extreme heat of the 2021 deadly winter storm rather than the extreme cold. But with the state’s August-like temperatures in early June, many wondered if the Texas grid could withstand longer and hotter summers fueled by climate change.
“In contrast to the winter storm, we were built for over 90 years for three months. [degrees]Caitlin Smith, Head of Regulatory Policy and Communications for Texas-based Battery Storage Company Jupiter Power, said: [degrees]?? There are some uncertainties there. ”
Smith and Marks warned that continued early spikes in temperature could put stress on the grid and power plants this year. Not only is the grid currently functioning, but it can change if this summer continues to bring relentless heat.
“It’s like the human body. Heat stress is cumulative,” Marks said. “The body doesn’t have time to recover. Power plants are like that, and it takes some time to recover.”
Marks added that renewable energy has been a major help by reducing the burden on traditional thermal power plants that use coal and natural gas to maintain lighting during this early surge. ..
Anthropogenic climate change is associated with rising global temperatures and extreme heat. Andy Dessler, head of the Texas Climate Research Center at the University of Texas A & M, is premature to know exactly how much climate change is causing the current heat wave, but it’s safe to assume that’s the factor. ..
“We are 100% sure that climate change is contributing to this,” Desler told CNN. “Everything is hot. August is hot. June is hot. It’s hot and this is the future.”
Congested power line
Solar is a smaller part of the state’s energy mix than wind, but it’s growing as well. EIA predicts that solar power will generate about 4% of electricity in Texas last summer and grow to 7.2% this summer.
Experts told CNN that it would be important to build more solar energy to cope with heat waves in the depths of summer when wind speeds tend to slow down. That’s because if it’s really hot, it’s likely that the sun is down.
However, Marks and Webber pointed out infrastructure issues that limit the potential of renewable energy. Texas needs more power lines to bring the energy produced by renewable energy to its customers. Mark pointed out the ERCOT project, which shows higher solar power than what was actually used. Victims of overcrowded power lines unable to deliver power to consumers.
“About half of the solar we can produce today isn’t being produced because there’s no room on the line,” Marks said. “If we had the transmission capacity to move renewable energy, the number of renewable energy would probably be higher.”
The wind and the sun also have natural fluctuations. Solars cannot generate energy at night, and wind turbines do not rotate when the wind is not blowing. It focuses heavily on the development of larger batteries that can store and deploy renewable energy when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining.
“It keeps renewable energy growing strong; it allows you to consolidate its renewable energy capacity,” Smith said.
Source: www.cnn.com
