{"id":36218,"date":"2013-05-25T11:04:48","date_gmt":"2013-05-25T15:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=36218"},"modified":"2013-05-25T11:04:48","modified_gmt":"2013-05-25T15:04:48","slug":"almost-100-new-electricity-to-be-from-solar-in-california-in-2nd-half-of-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/almost-100-new-electricity-to-be-from-solar-in-california-in-2nd-half-of-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Almost 100% New Electricity To Be From Solar In California In 2nd Half Of 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reposting this big news from Solar Love<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Herman Trabish of\u00a0Greentech Media<\/em>\u00a0has happened across a pretty interesting find \u2014 97% of new electricity generation capacity in line to be added to the California grid in the second half (2H) of 2012 is from solar power projects.<\/p>\n

This is according to\u00a0the\u00a0California Independent System Operator (the ISO)<\/a>, as published in\u00a0the\u00a02012 Annual Report on Market Issues and Performance<\/em><\/a>. In total,\u00a01,633 megawatts of generation capacity are in line to be added to the grid in 2H 2013. A whopping 1,581 megawatts (MW) are from solar projects. 52 MW are from biomass projects.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a big shift from the first half of the year (and, well, all of previous history). Herman writes: \u201cBy the end of the first half of the year, the ISO will have added 3,391 megawatts of nameplate capacity, of which 2,296 megawatts will be natural gas, 565 megawatts will be wind and 530 megawatts will be solar.\u201d Here\u2019s a chart for a visual display of these points and the situation in 2012:<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

Image Credit:\u00a0California ISO<\/a><\/p>\n

Herman spent a lot of time discussing various factors related to natural gas in his post (I\u2019d recommend\u00a0checking it out<\/a>). A few key points I\u2019d pull out of it are as follows (images added):<\/p>\n

\"new<\/a><\/p>\n

\"estimated<\/a><\/p>\n

\"natural<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Natural gas prices seem to have gotten too low to warrant investment in new natural gas projects<\/strong>. From the report:\u00a0\u201cThe 2012 net revenue estimates for hypothetical combined-cycle and combustion-turbine units continued to fall substantially below the estimates of the annualized fixed costs for these technologies. For a new combined-cycle unit, net operating revenues earned from the markets in 2012 are estimated to be about $38 per kilowatt-year in Southern California, compared to potential annualized fixed costs of $176 per kilowatt-year.\u201d (See 3 charts above.)<\/li>\n
  2. More periods like 2H 2013 to come \u2014 this is the future<\/strong>.\u00a0V. John White, executive director of the\u00a0Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT)<\/a>, stated:\u00a0\u201cThis is the shape of things to come.\u201d Naturally, with solar hitting grid parity in parts of California, and combined with renewable energy targets, solar is set to keep growing at a fast clip.<\/li>\n
  3. Clearly, there needs to be a little more balance than in 2H 2013<\/strong>. Technically, that could be achieved with a broad mix of renewables, demand response solutions, energy efficiency, energy storage, and\/or natural gas technologies of the right kind. \u201cWhat we want is a diverse renewables portfolio that includes solar PV, wind, geothermal and CSP with storage,\u201d White said. \u201cAs time goes on, we need to smooth this out and include demand response, energy efficiency, storage, and even out-of-state resources.\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. Old natural gas technology not a good fit<\/strong>. Older\/conventional natural gas plants take about 90 minutes to ramp up, which is not a good match for renewables. Furthermore, to warrant their cost, they have to run at 40% capacity, but they can\u2019t compete with renewables on a\u00a0merit order system<\/a>. And as\u00a0solar cuts off peak demand and cuts into peak pricing<\/a>, the situation will get even more difficult.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n