Dive Brief:
- In case of grid reliability issues in Southernn California, the California Energy Commission (CEC) has proposed that California allow once-through cooling units to continue running past their expected retirement dates, or allow at least one "off-the-shelf" natural gas plant to be quickly built in the region, according to Platts.
- The proposal comes as key stakeholders weigh the state's options for maintaining grid reliability as once-through cooling units are set to retire, and the region still feels the hit of the permanent closure of the controversial San Onofre nuclear plant in 2013.
- The proposal suggests grid reliability issues could crop up in Southern California if the performance of "preferred" resources (such as renewables and demand response) doesn't meet projections, if proposed power projects are not completed as expected, or if new transmission is put off or doesn't perform.
Dive Insight:
The closure of the San Onofre nuclear plant left Southern California with a 2,250 MW-sized hole in its available capacity. State regulators chose to replace the lost capacity with a mix of natural gas and preferred resources, but with once-through cooling units set to retire, stakeholders are worried about the effect on grid reliability.
The CEC's proposal boils down to two possibilities in responding to grid reliability issues: fast-track permitting for the construction of a natural gas plant, or allow once-through cooling units to remain operational past their planned retirement dates.
It takes 7-8 years to build a power plant in California from being proposed to coming online, according to the CEC, but half that time is spent on permitting that occurs sequentially, not simultaneously. A sped-up permitting process could significantly reduce the timeline for power plant construction.