Texas Hits New Wind Generation Record Of 45% Total Electric Demand

December 2nd, 2016 by Joshua S Hill

Texas grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced that on Sunday, wind electricity generation hit a new peak record and represented approximately 45% of total electric demand at the time, topping 15,000 MW for the first time.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) made the announcement earlier this week, however, its website has been misbehaving ever since news of the record hit the wires. According to S&P Global, which picked up the story on Tuesday, ERCOT set a new wind electricity generation record of around 15,033 MW on Sunday the 27th, at 12:35 pm, representing approximately 45% of total ERCOT electricity demand at the time.

Throughout the day wind played a significant role in providing electricity to ERCOT, ranging from about 35% to more than 46%, and averaging nearly 41% throughout the whole day.

Specifically, more than 8,800 MW came from wind farms in West and North Texas, 3,800 MW from South Texas, and around 2,300 MW from the Panhandle region.

“We saw high wind output throughout the day, ranging from just over 10,000 MW during the late night hours to this peak output during the noon hour,” said ERCOT Senior Director of System Operations Dan Woodfin. “Over the years, ERCOT has taken a number of steps, such as improving renewable generation forecasts, to allow us to operate the grid reliably on days like this.”

Texas currently has more than 17,000 MW of wind installed throughout ERCOT’s grid, and is expected to grow even further by the end of the year, topping off at 19,000 MW by the time the year ends. ERCOT wind generation for November is actually down on last year’s average, down 6% to an average of 137,300 MWh/d.











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