Last August, wind farms across the Midwest stopped producing electricity almost entirely for 12 straight hours. The turbines — capable of generating almost 30,000 megawatts — produced only 1 percent of the electricity needed to keep the lights on across the sprawling territory of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. A day later, it happened again, for 10 straight hours. grid operator MISO continues to mull solutions as states, utilities and large energy users seek to meet energy demand while slashing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. A National Renewable Energy Laboratory study released in December found that so-called extreme weather events haven’t limited the availability of wind and solar resources as much as “milder” conditions that historically weren’t a concern. Experts say there’s a wide menu of possible solutions available, many of them cost-effective and already being deployed widely. For starters, MISO will be able to count on almost 80 gigawatts of utility scale solar generation that is now in the “queue” to connect to the grid, as well as 13.4 GW of storage and another 14 GW of hybrid solar-plus-storage projects.
E&E News 21st June 2022 read more »