Texas weather – Caldus Energy

U.S. solar power generation forecast to grow 75% through 2025

Posted on 06/22/202406/22/2024 by D.Smith

The Energy Information Administration expects solar generation to grow from 163 billion kWh in 2023 to 286 billion kWh in 2025.

A recent report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed strong growth for solar energy and moderate growth for wind energy.

During the period from 2023 to 2025, the EIA expects solar generation to grow 75%. The U.S. generated about 163 billion kWh in 2023, and EIA expects this to reach 286 billion kWh by 2025.

According to PV Intel data, solar power generated 5.78% of U.S. electricity from January to October 2023, an increase of 16% over the previous year.

Wind power generation is expected to grow 11% from 430 billion kWh in 2023 to 476 billion kWh in 2025.

EIA expects coal generation to drop from 665 billion kWh in 2023 to 548 billion kWh in 2025. Natural gas is expected to continue to generate 1,700 billion kWh in 2024 and 2025, making it the largest source of electricity in the U.S. Over the next two years, both natural gas and nuclear power are expected to remain relatively flat in their generation contributions.

In total, the U.S. electric power sector produced 4,017 billion kWh. As a group, renewable energy generation has passed total nuclear generation in 2021 and surpassed coal in 2022. Renewable energy sources include solar, wind, hydroelectric power, biomass, and geothermal.

Increasing renewable energy capacity is driving this shift in generation mix. Solar developers are expected to increase total operating capacity by 38% by 2024. Total solar capacity is expected to increase from 95 GW at the end of 2023 to 131 GW by the end of 2024.

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates utility-scale solar projects larger than one megawatt will have installed 45 GWdc by 2024, which is expected to increase to 53 GWdc in 2025. The total solar power capacity expected for 2024 is 53.5 GW when Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables conservatively projects 6 GW for residential solar and 2 GW for commercial. According to projected figures, 65 GW of solar power could be installed by 2025.

Tracking Dangerous Heat in the U.S.

Posted on 06/17/202406/17/2024 by D.Smith

Heat index measures how hot it feels outside, accounting for temperature and humidity. Map shows highest level forecast for the day.

AUSTIN, Texas — The state climatologist says Texans should brace for more triple-digit days, as well as higher chances for drought, wildfire and flooding over the next decade.

Those are some of the findings in a recently released report predicting climate trends through 2036, the state’s bicentennial.

“The things we know, we can plan for,” Dr. John Neilsen-Gammon, the Texas state climatologist, said during an interview Wednesday from his office at Texas A&M University in College Station. “Things we don’t know, we can allow for different possibilities.”

Nielsen-Gammon was appointed Texas State Climatologist in 2000 by then-Gov. George W. Bush.

Recently, the Texas A&M atmospheric science professor authored an updated report predicting climate trends through 2036. His team analyzed data from 1900 through 2023.

“‘Climate change is real’ is an obvious takeaway,” Nielsen-Gammon said.

He said the rising temperatures are driven by increases in greenhouse gas emissions, and the pace aligns with climate model projections.

“That, obviously, gives us confidence that the changes we’ve seen are actually part of a long-term trend, rather than just natural variability,” Nielsen-Gammon said.

He said the number of 100-degree days in his findings is what surprised him most.

“[It] more than doubled since the 1970s and is still increasing,” Nielsen-Gammon said. “So, that the total change is probably going to be quadrupling by 2036.”

The report also predicts more intense rainfall and more flooding in cities.

“Take any flood that you had historically and add 25% more water to it,” Nielsen-Gammon said.

The professor also predicts more evaporation, which would lead to drier vegetation that could become fuel for wildfires.

“Reducing climate change is a global problem, but dealing with climate change is a local problem,” he said.

It’s a problem Austin’s mayor acknowledged during a Tuesday news conference on heat safety.

“Yes, Texas has always been hot, but climate change is causing more extreme heat,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said.

Nielsen-Gammon’s team plans to speak to state lawmakers about likely impacts the climate trends will have on the state’s power grid over the next several months. That hearing before the Texas House State Affairs Committee starts at 9 a.m. at the Texas Capitol on Monday, June 10.

Solar is the future

Posted on 06/16/202406/17/2024 by D.Smith

NextEra is one of the largest owners of gas fired power plants in the US.

When asked this week if gas or renewables will meet the country’s growing electricity demand – their CEO answered thusly:

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The CEO said he expects an almost 40% rise in US power demand over the next two decades, compared with just 9% over the previous 20 years. Renewable energy will meet most of the consumption boost because new gas-fired plants are much more expensive, take too long to connect to the grid and have to be supplied by hard-to-build gas pipelines, he said.

He said that adding battery storage to wind and solar farms can make those carbon-free sources almost as reliable in providing around-the-clock power as fossil fuels are.

“If I want to pay double, I can go with a gas-fired plant,” Ketchum said.

Tech Firms Ask NextEra for Enough Electricity to Power Entire Cities

NextEra Energy Inc

By Josh Saul and Will Wade

June 12, 2024 at 12:46 PM CDT

Technology companies are so desperate to build massive data centers in the US that they’re asking clean-energy giant NextEra Energy Inc. to find them locations with enough electricity to power entire cities.

“We’ve had some come to us and say, ‘Can you show us sites that can accommodate 5 gigawatts of demand?’” John Ketchum, Florida-based NextEra’s chief executive officer, said in an interview at Bloomberg News in New York on Wednesday. “Think about that. That’s the size of powering the city of Miami.” Ketchum declined to name the companies.

That much power — roughly the equivalent of five nuclear reactors, or enough to power almost 3 million homes — would require a mix of new wind and solar farms, battery storage and a connection to the grid, Ketchum said. He added that finding a site that could accommodate 5 gigawatts would take some work, but there are places in the US that can fit one gigawatt.

Power consumption in the US is soaring, driven in part by new data centers needed for artificial intelligence, high-speed streaming and remote work. A boost in domestic manufacturing and the electrification of vehicles and other sectors is also fueling the jump. While the demand surge is fueling a boom in clean-energy generation, it’s also spurring plans for new fossil-fuel plants, complicating climate goals.

The demand spike has even led NextEra to consider restarting the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa, which shut down in 2020 after its biggest customer opted to exit its power-purchase agreement. More than a dozen US reactors have shut since 2013 as operators struggled to compete against cheaper power from natural gas and renewables, but with consumption soaring there’s now talk that some of them could reopen.

Ketchum said he’s had inquiries from potential data center customers that could be interested in taking advantage of the 600-megawatt Duane Arnold reactor. “I would consider it, if it could be done safely and on budget,” he said.