Texas is the proving ground for a new way of electric grid operation
Texas is uniquely suited to adopt virtual power plant technology due to its competitive, deregulated market. Its success highlights the “perverse incentive” of vertically integrated utilities in other states to make capital expenditures without discretion to raise profits.
Habitat Energy chosen to optimize 730 MW ERCOT battery storage portfolio
To help manage battery storage and renewable energy assets, Habitat Energy signed an agreement with UBS Asset Management’s Real Estate & Private Markets business to optimize battery storage assets in four standalone projects in Texas.
Solar is beginning to sunset natural gas use in Texas
The top state for solar deployment in 2023 is seeing tangible changes to its daily electricity supply, lowering the need for natural gas peaker plants, said the Energy Information Administration.
1100 GW solar and 1000 GW storage now await transmission interconnection
Solar, wind and battery storage accounted for nearly 95% of the capacity in transmission interconnection queues as of year-end 2023, based on preliminary data from Berkeley Lab, presented in a staff report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Potential effect of the 2024 solar eclipse on solar energy production
To compensate for potential loss of solar energy flowing to the grid, grid operators will have to be ready to rely on other sources to ensure grid stability, as was done during the 2017 and 2023 eclipse episodes.
Weather records tumble across U.S. as Atlantic pressure keeps eastern skies clear
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that persistent high pressure in the upper atmosphere led to irradiance as high as 30% above normal, and new records for solar generation and temperature in North America in mid-February.
Sunrise brief: Solar generated 5.5% of U.S. electricity in 2023, a 17.5% increase
Also on the rise: Grid operators in California and Texas earn “B” grades, others score poorly. Calculating potential impact of EPA’s $7 billion Solar for All program. And more.
Grid operators in California and Texas earn “B” grades, others score poorly
With two million megawatts of generation and storage projects awaiting interconnection studies across the U.S., a report gives grid operators grades for their interconnection processes ranging from B to D-.
‘Flexibility is key’ as energy sector moves to net-zero future
GridBeyond report notes that while a reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels and increased renewable use can lead to greater energy security and independence, grid operators have to overcome certain challenges connected to them, such as intermittency.
Agrivoltaics can help meet growing needs of the Lone Star State
As the economy and population in Texas grows, so does its demand for electricity as well as sustainable food production. Texas A&M researchers collaborated on a study that finds that agrivoltaics offers the potential to enhance the efficiency of both.
