Arcus Power Corp’s Post

Renewable energy is on the rise in the U.S. with #solar and #wind power leading the way! According to a recent report from Climate Central, Inc., renewable energy has seen a meteoric growth over the past decade, with certain states emerging as renewable powerhouses. California takes the lead in solar generation, producing over 68,800 GWh of electricity from the sun last year. The State of Texas follows in second place with 31,700 GWh, and the State of Florida, State of North Carolina, and Arizona round out the top five. Together, these states make up the lion's share of the nation's 238,000 GWh of total solar generation in 2023. Texas saw the most dramatic growth in solar, adding nearly 5,000 MW of new capacity and experiencing a 37% increase from 2022. Courtesy Canary Media Inc. #cleanenergytransition #nxtgen David Odejide Mike Hudema Billy W Chapman, Jr., STSC Paul Wormser Les Mood Stephanie Johnson Kedar Balasubramanian NXTGEN Clean Energy Solutions

Over the past decade, renewable energy in the U.S. has seen a substantial rise. The 2023 numbers revealed the indispensable role that Texas has played in the nation's recent improvements. In 2023, Texas led the nation in growth for solar capacity, increasing 37% when compared to 2022, and ranked second behind California in total solar generation. Texas was also the top state for wind generation, with a net increase of 4%, even though the country as a whole experienced a net decrease. TREAD Coalition supports responsible siting and construction of renewable energy projects to insure the protection and conservation of working lands. https://lnkd.in/g2Xwz8pG

According to a report from Bloomberg, solar production hit a new record in Germany on Tuesday at midday CET. This development marks a noticeable increase in renewable energy’s share of power generation. https://lnkd.in/eXgJw6YJ #solarenergy #renewableenergy #bloomberg #Solargermany European Energy Exchange AG Solar & Storage Live

Energy transition scorecard

#SolarPower #WindPower #USA #ClimateCentral "Renewable energy is surging remarkably in the U.S., with solar and wind power installations springing up across the country. A new report from Climate Central tracks the meteoric growth of these clean energy sources over the past decade, painting a clear picture of which states are emerging as renewable powerhouses. In 2023, utility- and small-scale solar installations produced an estimated 238,121 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity combined, a 16 percent increase over 2022. Meanwhile, utility-scale wind installations produced 425,235 GWh of electricity — a 2% drop compared to 2022 due to lower wind speeds, mostly in the Midwest. Together, solar and wind generated enough electricity last year to power the equivalent of more than 61 million average American homes. In 2023, utility-scale solar produced nearly 4% of the country’s electricity. A decade earlier, in 2014, it made up less than 0.5% of the total electricity generated. Nevada and California are among the states with the highest share of utility-scale solar generation as a percent of their overall electricity mix — 23% and 19%, respectively. California, however, leads the way in total solar (both utility- and small-scale) generation, producing over 68,800 GWh of electricity from the sun last year — that’s more than double the output of any other state. Texas came in second at 31,700 GWh, followed by Florida, North Carolina and Arizona. These five states make up the lion’s share of the nation’s 238,000 GWh of total solar generation in 2023. The Lone Star State saw the most dramatic growth in solar, adding nearly 5,000 MW of new capacity (the maximum amount of electricity that a source can produce at any given moment, as opposed to the amount of electricity a source produces over time, or generation). That’s a 37% increase from 2022. Texas is the uncontested leader in wind power, with its turbines generating a remarkable 119,836 GWh of electricity in 2023 — more than the next three states (Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas) combined. While Texas also led in absolute growth, adding 1,309 MW of new wind capacity, Arizona and New York saw the biggest relative increases at 39% and 25%, respectively. Overall, U.S. wind power generation has more than doubled over the past decade, producing around 10% of the country’s electricity in 2023, compared to 4% in 2014. ... Solar and wind are poised to play a central role in reaching those goals, and recent policy incentives for renewable energy, most notably the Inflation Reduction Act, will be key in boosting solar and wind installations in the coming years. Researchers estimate that by 2035, these two renewable sources could make up over 50% of electricity capacity in most U.S. states. In a dozen states, wind and solar could account for more than 80% of capacity, with New Mexico, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming potentially crossing the 90% threshold. ..."

California "..Jacobsen says that wind, water and solar have accounted for more than 100 per cent of state demand for between one and six hours for nine out of the last 10 days. And that is one in the eye for all the naysayers. “In 2009, when we first proposed 100% WWS, the utilities and naysayers claimed the grid would go unstable with more than 20 per cent renewable energy, with no evidence,” Jacobsen wrote on X. “In 2017, they claimed, with no evidence, a limit of 80 per cent. In 2020, they claimed 90%, then 95% . Now 100% WWS is here to stay.” This above graph, taken from the California system operator CAISO, where Jacobsen sources his data, shows wind and solar alone accounting for all of state demand for a brief time on March 13 – a common occurrence in South Australia, but rare for a grid with demand at near 20 gigawatts." https://lnkd.in/eKqDydj2

Reality check solar I think it's important that everyone understands that the capacity factor for solar in NZ is on average 15%. wind is better but still <40%. That means when you see all the headlines about the massive amount of solar generation to be added in almost every case the claims are capacity, so chop 85% off that to get reality. It makes a huge difference to material requirements too look at tonnes/MW then tonnes/MWH. https://lnkd.in/gxKYwyEy

Michigan getting to zero. [Note: right now the Governor of Michigan talks about solar because of the resistance to wind power, so this is solar focused] By 2030 if NERC and MISO approve Michigan will close 4.5 GW of coal fired generation. If we are lucky Palisades will be allowed to restart and replace 0.8 GW of firm generation. To replace 3.7 GW of coal for December firm power means that 52 Gigawatts of new solar in the state by 2030 and storage to support it. (1 kW of solar produces 52 kWh of energy during the month of December). Not a trivial lift for the state in 7 years. Bur wait there is more, Michigan has attracted 6 battery facilities, 1 Hydrogen equipment manufacturer, several conversions to EV factories, and is promising more than 100,000 new public chargers – including 127 Fast charging facilities (NEVI). It is desperate to attract 2 or 3 new data centers (some will demand 1 GW of power) but those are not included in the discussion) In total new load will be between 1.6 and 4.2 GW of new load. Meaning the number may need to be 113 GW of solar to support December as a firm resource. Now if this solar covers every rooftop in the state that is suitable it will provide 8 GW of solar, leaving 105 GW to go on the ground. If the state uses marginal farm and woodland, the state will only need 1,450 square miles of additional solar (say all of Oakland and Jackson Counties plus half of Kalamazoo County). Wind farms could obviously reduce the need for solar, but remember for typical wind turbines, the need is for 1 square mile per turbine to get the best production and it is 400-1000 turbines to the gigawatt – Lake Michigan could support 22 GW of wind turbines. So far Michigan lacks anything like a plan that works.

As states embark on aggressive transitions, they need to keep in mind the need for FIRM capacity to replace baseload, the restrictions of physics on energy density, the economic ambition that drives increased load and the impacts of policies like electric heat and EV charging on peaks. oh, and don't forget the need to improve reliability and resilience since voters will not take well to freezing when the power goes out or missing work due to lack of capacity for charging when they need it.

The solar energy industry is growing by leaps and bounds as local utilities and companies that operate energy-guzzling data centers seek out renewable energy sources, report Spencer Kimball and Gabriel Cortés for CNBC. “But renewables face a massive bottleneck to get connected to the grid, and building out transmission lines to support the growth poses a big challenge,” the authors add. Renewable energy sources remain just 3.9 percent of the nation’s power mix in 2023, and the nation’s aging power infrastructure is struggling to keep up with demand, which is growing in part due to the growth of data centers as well as rising temperatures and growing populations.  While “Nearly 2,500 gigawatts of solar, wind and battery projects were requesting connection in 2023, almost double the entire installed capacity of the current U.S. power plant fleet,” one analyst notes that “The rate by which renewables are deployed would need to at least triple to achieve 90% clean electricity over the next decade.” Plants that came online in 2023 took roughly five years to complete, and just 20 percent of projects with applications submitted between 2000 and 2018 were completed. But solar is making significant gains, too. “In California, for example, solar energy represented more than 50% of the state's power supply from 7:45 a.m. until 5:25 p.m., peaking at about 18 gigawatts or 64% of supply around 1 p.m., according to Grid Status, which tracks major U.S. grids in real time.”