Renewable Energy Helped the US Survive the Hottest Summer season Ever

As we head into October, we depart behind a summer season of maximum warmth throughout the US, and with it, you may virtually hear the electrical energy sector breathe a collective sigh of reduction.

This summer season, the US endured the 2 warmest months ever recorded, but the system held. Because the summer season kicked off, grid displays rang alarm bells about looming blackouts, however aside from outages associated to wildfires in Hawaii and a hurricane within the Southeast, there have been no main interruptions. Regardless of years of messages attempting to boost doubts about whether or not renewables have a spot in grid reliability, there’s little question now that wind and solar energy and battery storage held their very own this summer season.

Whereas it’s encouraging that the ability stayed on, consultants agree that the grid was pushed to its restrict, and regularly growing warmth and excessive climate throughout summer season imply we have to maintain strengthening and increasing the grid. Utilities, grid managers, and policymakers who assist the transition to cleaner, extra dependable, less expensive renewable energy should redouble their efforts as bouts of maximum climate linked to local weather change turn out to be extra frequent. Whereas fossil gas supporters will proceed accountable renewables for all of the system’s woes, the optimistic impacts of renewable energy had been on full show throughout the nation.

Report warmth, report demand

There was no escaping the intense warmth this summer season. It was notably brutal in Texas, the place the capital, Austin, hit triple-digit temperatures for 34 straight days. Dallas recorded record-high warmth for 3 consecutive days whereas El Paso noticed 56 triple-digit days, the third most in its historical past. From June 27 to August 12, Texas set 10 all-time peak energy demand information, in response to knowledge from ERCOT (Electrical Reliability Council of Texas), which manages 90 p.c of the state’s electrical load.

The Lone Star State was no outlier. Scorching temperatures coated a lot of the Southeast in August earlier than creeping into the Midwest and Northeast. The common temperature throughout the contiguous United States in August was 74.4 levels Fahrenheit — 2.3 levels above common — which clocks in because the ninth warmest within the nation’s 129 years of recordkeeping. Globally, the summer season of 2023 was the most popular on report, in response to European Union’s Local weather Change Service.

These excessive temperatures led to report hundreds throughout the nation. In late August, Southwest Energy Pool (SPP), the grid supervisor for utilities and transmission corporations throughout 17 states within the central United States, noticed report hundreds on three consecutive days.

Regardless of circumstances that many believed would trigger it to buckle and provides out, the grid held up. A part of that success could be attributed to emergency demand response. In Texas, for instance, surging energy demand prompted a number of calls from ERCOT to prospects to cut back their vitality use, together with in the course of the first week of September amid scorching warmth. Nonetheless, the state prevented widespread blackouts.

However emergency actions and last-minute energy-saving measures from prospects shouldn’t be the idea for grid reliability. To that finish, we have to proceed growing the capability of grid assets to arrange for more and more scorching summers. And this summer season confirmed the brand new capability we’ve already constructed is delivering on reliability.

Renewables on the rise

Clear vitality assets proceed to ramp up (pun supposed) to supply the dependable, inexpensive, clear service all of us deserve. Firstly of August, the US had about 237,000 megawatts of utility-scale photo voltaic, wind, and battery storage on-line. This accounted for 15.1 p.c of electrical energy generated, up from 12 p.c on the similar time a 12 months prior, in response to the American Clear Energy Affiliation. Of that, 10,000 megawatts had been added within the first half of 2023.

Texas produces extra wind energy than every other state, however this summer season, it was photo voltaic that stole the present. The state produced twice as a lot solar energy as final 12 months, in accordance to Dr. Joshua Rhodes, a analysis scientist with the Webber Vitality Group on the College of Texas. On August 10, wind and photo voltaic vitality generated sufficient energy to fulfill 25 p.c of demand in the course of the peak hour of utilization, in accordance to ERCOT.

Actually, all U.S. energy grids set photo voltaic era information this summer season, in response to Grid Standing, a web site that tracks grids in actual time. And that pattern is ready to proceed. A brand new report from the Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation estimates that 32 gigawatts of further photo voltaic capability shall be added in 2023, representing 52 p.c progress from 2022.

Wind additionally performed its half in protecting the air conditioners buzzing. In late August, at SPP, renewables (principally wind) contributed 10 to twenty p.c of energy era at peak instances. Grid operators in California and within the central United States additionally set renewable vitality information.

The recipe for achievement

A number of elements got here collectively to forestall a summer season of maximum warmth from turning into the sort of life-threatening catastrophe we’ve seen when air conditioners go silent throughout warmth waves:

• Extra diversification of vitality sources, together with growing quantities of wind and photo voltaic
• Higher planning and preparedness
• Increased ranges of hydroelectric energy because of heavy winter rain and snow within the West
• Demand response packages that provide customers rebates to ease up on vitality use in the course of the hottest elements of the day

Emergency demand response shouldn’t be the north star for grid reliability, and this summer season highlights proactive demand administration as a obligatory technique. Grid operators and utilities ought to strengthen packages that incentivize lowered and extra environment friendly vitality use and encourage the adoption of versatile demand assets like electrical autos and sensible properties.

Whereas spectacular, the sheer quantity of recent photo voltaic and wind energy alone is barely a part of the image. Renewable vitality is offering extra resilient, predictable provide, and storage is extending the worth these assets provide previous the hours when the solar is shining.

Extra options are wanted, however many are at our disposal. We’d like a big build-out of high-voltage interregional transmission to get that new energy the place it must go, notably throughout excessive climate. Utility planners and policymakers have to make it a precedence to construct new transmission strains that interconnect utility areas and ship energy throughout higher distances. The grid must be greater than any excessive climate sample. In July, the Federal Vitality Regulatory Fee took a fantastic first step towards dashing up the connection of recent renewable energy to grids throughout the nation, however it nonetheless must finalize a robust regional transmission planning rule and begin a rule to make sure sturdy interregional transmission.

The lesson from the summer season of 2023 could also be that, whereas the sky isn’t falling, we can not let our guard down. We have to speed up efforts to combine extra renewable vitality and storage assets into the grid, encourage vitality effectivity and demand response, and improve and develop the transmission grid, and to do all of it whereas defending communities and ecosystems which have traditionally — and disproportionately — been negatively impacted by vitality growth.

By Christy Walsh. Republished from NRDC.