Tag:

FERC

United States Connected 487 MW Of Large Solar & Wind To The Grid In August

by Joshua S Hill September 29, 2015

The United States connected a total 487 MW of wind and utility-scale solar capacity to the national grid in August, according to new figures released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its latest Energy Infrastructure Update for August (PDF) this past week, in which the governmental agency revealed that of all new electricity generation in-service for the month of August, wind had installed 2 projects totalling 249 MW, while utility-scale solar had installed 10 projects totalling 238 MW.

In fact, wind and solar were the only new generation capacity added in August, and, alongside natural gas, one of the three major drivers of new electricity generation capacity for the whole of 2015 to date. For the period January to August 2015, natural gas has seen 29 new projects totalling 2,524 MW of installed capacity, wind with 22 projects totalling 2,368 MW, and solar with 123 projects totalling 1,034 MW.

Worth noting, however, is that only wind installed more capacity over the first eight months of the year in 2015 than it did in 2014, with both natural gas and utility-scale solar falling well behind their 2014 installation figures.

September 29, 2015 0 comment

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51% of New US Electricity Capacity In 1st Quarter Came From Solar Energy, 92% From Renewables (CHARTS)

by Zach April 19, 2014

written by Zach

If you love solar, you’re going to love electricity capacity trends in the US. In the first quarter of 2014, over 51% of new electricity generation capacity came from solar (51% excludes small and medium rooftop solar projects), and renewable energy on the whole contributed 92.1%.

This follows a year (2013) when solar was the #2 source of new electricity capacity, adding 21% of all new electricity generation capacity (again, not including rooftop solar projects).

This is all better visualized in charts and tables, so below are several of those. Above is a chart of new electricity generation capacity in the 1st quarter of 2014, and here is a table on that split:

Here is a chart on the 2013 new electricity generation capacity split, and then a table on that:

And here is a chart and then a table on total electricity generation capacity in the US at the end of March 2014:

Thanks to the SUN DAY Campaign for sending me this FERC update. As a representative from the campaign aptly noted to me, “Renewable energy sources, including hydropower, now account for 16.3% of total installed U.S. operating generating capacity: water – 8.58%, wind – 5.27%, biomass – 1.37%, solar – 0.75%, and geothermal steam – 0.33%. This is more than nuclear (9.25%) and oil (4.04%) combined.” Nice.

We still have a long way to go, but at least we are now making very strong progress.

April 19, 2014 0 comment

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Terrorists Could Black Out US Electric Grids With “Simple” 1-2-3 — Developing More Solar Would Increase Grid Security

by Zach March 23, 2014

written by Zach

A recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission analysis finds that it would be fairly easy for terrorists to knock out all the electric grids in the US. And not just for a short time, but for about a year and a half!

“Destroy nine interconnection substations and a transformer manufacturer and the entire United States grid would be down for at least 18 months, probably longer,” FERC officials wrote in a memo for a former FERC chair.

John Upton at Grist further summarizes: “Crippling America’s old-fashioned electrical grid for a long period of time would be disturbingly easy. Saboteurs need only wait for a heat wave, and then knock out a factory plus a small number of the 55,000 electric-transmission substations that are scattered throughout the country.”

Oh, but surely these substations are heavily protected, right? Umm…

From a Wall Street Journal article on this story:

In last April’s attack at PG&E Corp.’s Metcalf substation, gunmen shot 17 large transformers over 19 minutes before fleeing in advance of police. The state grid operator was able to avoid any blackouts.

The Metcalf substation sits near a freeway outside San Jose, Calif. Some experts worry that substations farther from cities could face longer attacks because of their distance from police. Many sites aren’t staffed and are protected by little more than chain-link fences and cameras.

Holy yikes!!

March 23, 2014 1 comment

Market Research PV Solar Projects Solar Research

Solar Was #1 Source Of New Electricity Capacity In January

by Zach March 9, 2014

written by Zach

By Sun Day Campaign

Washington DC – According to the latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects, non-hydro renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) accounted for more than 99% of all new domestic electrical generating capacity installed during January 2014 for a total of 324 MW.

Solar led the way … with 13 new “units” totaling 287 MW followed by geothermal steam with three new units totaling 30 MW. Biomass added three new units totaling 3 MW while wind had one new unit with an installed capacity of 4 MW. In addition, there was 1 MW added that FERC defined as “other.”

Renewable energy sources, including hydropower, now account for 16.03% of total installed U.S. operating generating capacity: water – 8.44%, wind – 5.20%, biomass – 1.36%, solar – 0.70%, and geothermal steam – 0.33%. This is more than nuclear (9.26%) and oil (4.04%) combined. *

“The trends are unmistakable,” concluded Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “Renewables are the energy growth market of the future with solar – for the moment at least – the leader of the pack.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released its most recent 4-page “Energy Infrastructure Update,” with data through January 31, 2014, on February 20, 2014. See the tables titled “New Generation In-Service (New Build and Expansion)” and “Total Installed Operating Generating Capacity” at http://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/2014/jan-infrastructure.pdf.

* Note that generating capacity is not the same as actual generation. Actual net electrical generation from renewable energy sources in the United States now totals about 13% according to the most recent data (i.e., as of November 2013) provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Image Credit: First Solar

March 9, 2014 0 comment

Solar Projects Solar Records

Solar = 100% Of New US Power Capacity In March, Renewables = 82% In 1st Quarter

by Tim April 12, 2013

written by Tim

Renewables are leading again. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects has just released a report for the first three months of 2013.

The report is called the “Energy Infrastructure Update” and it shows that renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal, solar, water, wind) have accounted for 82% of all new domestic electrical generating capacity installed for the first quarter of 2013. The total amount of the combined renewables came in at 1,546 MW.

Photo Credit: Port of San Diego / Foter.com / CC BY

April 12, 2013 0 comment