While it is *exciting* to watch the prices in the ERCOT market right now, the basis (difference in prices between the north and south) is going to be bad news for some wind farms down there.
tl;dr

If you are injecting power in South Texas right now, but settling your PPA at the North Hub, you are bleeding money today.
Background: Texas has great wind resources in its southern parts. They are great on-peak in the summer (65% vs. 35% for West Texas wind). 80m average wind speeds on left, wind turbine density on right.
Most wind projects in TX are financed by a virtual PPA that settles at the most liquid hub in ERCOT, the North Hub. Most PPAs are set at a fixed (or slightly increasing annual) rate. Let's call it $30/MWh for now.
So, if prices are flat across the state and say are at $40/MWh, the developer cuts a check for the difference to the PPA holder, $10/MWh ($40-30) in this case. It goes the other way too, if prices are $25/MWh, the PPA holder cuts the wind farm owner a check for $5/MWh ($25-30).
Small price differences across the state don't matter too much and usually wash out and everyone is generally happy. But today (and the next few) could be different.
Today price spreads have been all over the place and sometimes massive, for many hours. For example, take Cameron Wind*.

*I DO NOT know if they are producing energy or if they have a PPA that settles at the North Hub.
If they were producing energy during the 10th hour of the day today, they were getting paid $3,425/MWh (yay!), but if they are settling at the North Hub, they are settling at $5,440/MWh (oh no!), essentially losing ~$2,000/MWh. 😬😬
But, these hours will be averaged over all hours of the month, so high winds at low market prices can blunt these exceptional days, and some could be hedged well against it. https://twitter.com/TanujDeora/status/1360643275854655498?s=20
All in all, this shows that Texas is no longer just exciting in the summer. We need to be better prepared for a climate change weakend jet stream sending us arctic air if we also want to electrify heating at the same time. Classic peak demand argument, different season.
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