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Electricity peak demand records broken

image credit: Courtesy of Southwest Power Pool
Kent Knutson's picture
Kent Knutson 15965
Energy Market Specialist Hitachi Energy USA Inc.

Kent Knutson is a market specialist focusing on energy industry intelligence for Hitachi Energy.  He has more than 30 years of experience designing and developing intelligence products for some...

  • Member since 2018
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  • Jul 20, 2022
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There were new all-time peak demand records set in the  Southwest Power Pool  (SPP) and in  ERCOT  yesterday (July 19). The SPP reached 53,243 MW at 16:59. ERCOT reached an hourly average of 79,621 MW during hour 17. Kudos to both markets for holding up well! 

Link to heatwave post: 

 

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Matt Chester's picture
Matt Chester on Jul 20, 2022

Each new record is met with bated breath, but kudos has to be given to the TX grid and all involved for holding strong thus far. It's a lot of stress, but hopefully they continue to successfully  navigate it and provide key lessons learned for other grids that will surely be seeing similar unprecedented stresses in the coming years. 

Jim Stack's picture
Jim Stack on Jul 22, 2022

I have heard the GRID is being saved by solar and battery storage. I hope some new reports can verify thus and passion the answers. 

Jim Stack's picture
Jim Stack on Jul 22, 2022

Record peaks and tge GRID is staying up. Those are great records to show how things have improved. Keep it up. 

Kent Knutson's picture
Kent Knutson on Jul 25, 2022

Hi Jim, thanks for your comments.  I am on vacation this week.  In Montana to fish and play golf with my brothers.  When I get back to Colorado I will do some analysis on ERCOT, SPP, and CAISO . . . there has been a tremendous amount of natural gas and coal burned to keep homes and businesses air-conditioned this summer -- particularly in SPP and ERCOT.  Solar and wind are contributing whenever possible.  In ERCOT prices spiked steeply a couple of weeks back . . . there were a number of thermal units out that day . . . additionally, the wind output was lower than forecast.  The combination impacted the market big-time.  With the exception of CAISO, installed battery storage is relatively tiny across these footprints. As it is, thermal resources are extremely important in keeping the grid balanced and reliable.  I am anxious to take a closer look at the data.     

Peter Farley's picture
Peter Farley on Jul 26, 2022

While more storage is better, the South Australian grid has become remarkably more reliable since their first large battery was installed and it can only supply 3.5% of peak demand for an hour. Getting through that peak hour makes a huge difference. The figures for Texas storage are hard to find but it seems it is over 2 GW and approaching 3 GW. It would be great to see your analysis

PRESTON OCHSNER's picture
PRESTON OCHSNER on Jul 25, 2022

What is the calculation for marketplace savings?

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