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If you want to know why CA had rolling blackouts yesterday- this graph explains it. The problem is renewables/solar.
At 7PM when demand was within a few % of daily peak, renewables produced about 3GW vs 11GW at their peak.
At 7PM when demand was within a few % of daily peak, renewables produced about 3GW vs 11GW at their peak.
This huge gap (8GW) needs to be filled by thermal (fossil) power. But it's uneconomical to have power plants which only run a few hours a few days per year. And PGE are forced by regulation to preferentially buy unreliable solar power.
This only going to get worse as renewables increase as a % of power supply.
As always, mad props to Cal ISO for a great website: http://www.caiso.com/TodaysOutlook/Pages/default.aspx
As always, mad props to Cal ISO for a great website: http://www.caiso.com/TodaysOutlook/Pages/default.aspx
For more info on understanding the grid and the impact of renewables, I recommend a series of blog posts from "Planning Engineer". Two of the most relevant: https://judithcurry.com/2014/12/11/all-megawatts-are-not-equal/#more-17406
https://judithcurry.com/2014/11/05/more-renewables-watch-out-for-the-duck-curve/
https://judithcurry.com/2014/11/05/more-renewables-watch-out-for-the-duck-curve/
See articles like this: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ge-power/general-electric-to-scrap-california-power-plant-20-years-early-idUSKCN1TM2MV
But for these sorts of closures, there would have been no blackouts yesterday. These closures happen because operators are required to preferentially buy unreliable power.
But for these sorts of closures, there would have been no blackouts yesterday. These closures happen because operators are required to preferentially buy unreliable power.
