California Exceeds 100% of Energy Demand with Renewables Over a Record 30 days

[Think. Again.]

Michelle Lewis Apr 15 2024 - 10:29 am PT
Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/04/15/renewables-met-100-percent-california-energy-demand-30-days/


In a major clean energy benchmark, wind, solar, and hydro exceeded 100% of demand on California’s main grid for 30 of the past 38 days.

Stanford University professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Z. Jacobson has been tracking California’s renewables performance, and he shares his findings on Twitter (X) when the state breaks records. Yesterday he posted:

Link to tweet

At the two-week record mark, Ian Magruder at Rewiring America made this great point on LinkedIn:

"And what makes it even better is that California has the largest grid-connected battery storage facility in the world (came online in January …), meaning those batteries were filling up with excess energy from the sun all afternoon today and are now deploying as we speak to offset a good chunk of the methane gas generation that California still uses overnight."

Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/04/15/renewables-met-100-percent-california-energy-demand-30-days/

[Ontheboundry]

1. This was an interesting read

I've done home all solar and rain catch (out of need more than want if im being honest)

I did it all myself also l, as the installation put it out of my price range.

Solar fascinates me to no end

[Think. Again.]

2. Yep, in spite of the efforts by the fossil fuel industry...

...we're still building out the needed infrastructure to decrease and eventually eliminate CO2 releases.

The FF industry has plenty of cash and no ethical boundaries though, so it's a long, hard fight.

[Ontheboundry]

5. One thing that does aggravate

Me to no end, is how they defer your solar tax credits over a year. I am rather pissed about it tbh. You tax me for 2023 income, you take my 2023 deductions, but my 2023 renewable expenses have to wait a year? That makes zero sense and pisses me off

[dutch777]

3. Generation is not the issue, storage to carry overnight need if the source is solar is the remaining hiccup.

We looked at solar when we were reroofing the house but at our age we couldn't get close to recouping the investment and we didn't like the lease set ups most solar companies use. I am still going to do a DIY set-up on the garage just to have some back-up and make it scalable to add to over time.

[Think. Again.]

8. Well no, we still need to build out a lot of generation...

...and yes, we still need to build out a lot of storage too.

[dutch777]

10. True, but we know generation as proven tech., storage has no clear singular path.

Do we disbursed tech where many homes has some amount of battery backup such as Tesla Powerwall or look at battery centers like we do power substations (or probably) a combination thereof. I may have missed it but have yet to see a comprehensive study from an independent authority that speaks to this.

[Think. Again.]

11. Yes, just as with non-CO2 generation...

...storage can also be achieved through multiple methods, no singular path needed.

[OnlinePoker]

4. For 1/4 of an hour to 6 hours daily

What was the source of power for the other times when solar and wind weren't available?

[Ontheboundry]

6. Think it said methane

Unless I misread the article

[GregariousGroundhog]

7. Agreed. Elektrek is straight up lying with their headline.

[CoopersDad]

9. Crappy headline, misleading story, requires careful re-reading and information.

In a major clean energy benchmark, wind, solar, and hydro exceeded 100% of demand on California’s main grid for 30 of the past 38 days.

I've been to our ISO four times, I understand the data.

The article suggests that the entire state ran on renewables for entire days, many in a row.

No, all that happened was that for a short spell renewable generation exceeded demand, and that's great.

We need to keep up the good work and build more storage like the Moss Landing plant 14 miles from me and one for Morro Bay on the drawing boards, to be tied to a massive offshore wind project.

And we need to keep Diablo Canyon running, I've made 4 or 5 trips there, too.

I recommend a visit to the website for the ISO: www.caiso.com