California's electric utilities marked Earth Day Saturday with an announcement that a record 2.4 billion watts of electricity were generated by wind last week, primarily at wind farms in Southern California.
So much electricity will be available this summer that the state projected a less than one percent chance of brownouts this year. A temporary glut of hydroelectric power caused by a huge snowpack may actually cause grid reliability problems this spring, the state warned.
“Earth Day 2011 marks a new era in California's power industry as record amounts of renewable energy are tracked on screens at a new advanced control center designed to reliably operate a greener grid,” said a California Independent Systems Operator in a news release.
The new control center, near Sacramento, allows California officials to monitor the weather statewide, control wind-power production and schedule backup fuel-burning generating sources for calm periods.
The 2.4 billion watts generated last week easily bested last year's peak weekly generation of wind power, of 1.9 billion watts, CalISO said.
A new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown requires that utilities get 33 percent of their electricity from wind or other renewable resources by 2020. The law cements a voluntary goal set by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The state today also issued projections that supply and demand forecasts are for an adequate supply of power this summer.
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“This projection for this summer's electricity demand is very promising for California,” said California Energy Commission Chair Robert Weisenmiller. “Even if we experience hotter than average summer temperatures, California is expected to have more than ample electricity supplies to meet the peak demand.”
The 2.4 billion watts of wind power compares to an expected peak demand this summer of 47.8 billion watts, a demand that is 1.5 percent larger than last year's peak demand. The state is also able to shed almost 2.4 billion watts of demand at peak usage times by switching off non-essential equipment under voluntary interruptible load programs.
The probability of rotating power outages is less than 1 percent this summer, assuming moderate levels of imported power. California gets a quarter of its daily electricity needs from other states: Arizona supplies electricity to California from a nuclear plant near Phoenix, and large coal-fired power plants in Utah also still supply electricity to California.
Record-high level of wind-generated comes as the California snowpack reaches 160 percent of its historical average, CalISO said. If it melts suddenly, the heavy snowpack could lead to so much hydro-electricity that may lead to a temporary glut this spring, the news release said.
The “over generation” condition could cause powerline fluctuations, and require the state to send quick signals for power plants to “back down” -- sometimes even paying private generating companies to throttle down at the last minute to reduce output.
The state's new control center will use “new geospatial technology and advanced visualization capabilities” to anticipate swings in hydro, wind and solar production, ahead of when weather causes either a power glut or shortages.
