Dive Brief:
- Gas power in Texas has fallen sharply in recent months, declining from about half of generation in August to just over a third in October, according to a new report from the state's grid operator.
- The Electric Reliability Council of Texas saw a new October peak demand record early in the month, reaching almost 59,000 MW, despite that also representing a sharp decline compared with September.
- Wind generation has done most to make up the gas shortfall, and coal generation has risen slightly as well, while nuclear energy use has remained constant. ERCOT has added about 1 GW of new generation to its system in recent months.
Dive Insight:
New data released by ERCOT shows a marked decline in gas generation, from 49.1% of the state's generation in August to 36.7% last month. In that same period, wind has risen from 9.4% of generation to 17%. And peak loads are generally increasing.
Peak load for the month was 59,848 MW on Oct. 5, more than 1% higher that October's peak the year before.
ERCOT officials say they expect more than 1,700 MW of new natural gas, wind, and solar resources to be available by the start of the spring season. Aided by normal temperatures and new capacity, the grid operator anticipates adequate capacity for the coming seasons.
The grid operator's final fall Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy report showed the system with more than 82,000 MW of total generation capacity and a peak demand forecast of about 54,400 MW. Fall peak forecast demand is expected to be 54,437 MW, an increase of more than 9% over last year's fall peak load estimates.
