California: First time using 100% electricity from renewable energy
Less than two weeks after achieving a record 97,6% grid-wide share of renewable energy, California has reached a new milestone, with 100% of the state's electricity supplied by renewable sources. renewable energy for a short time on weekends.
According to the California Independent System Operator, the state achieved this feat in a 15-minute period, from 2:45 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 30, California time – this is also the first time For the first time, the entire state of California is powered entirely by renewable energy.
In fact, this is quite normal in places with smaller scale electricity grids, like in South Australia, but for California – one of the largest economies in the world, and one of the most largest power grid - the milestone mentioned above is extremely special.
As you can see in the chart below, when the state's electricity demand exceeded 18GW at around 2:50 p.m., renewables provided a total electricity capacity of about 18,6GW, compared to just over 2GW from nuclear power, 2GW from gas, and 9MW from coal.
At that time, the majority of California's renewable energy supply came from solar power systems, about 12,4GW, while 4,7GW came from wind power systems. The remainder comes from geothermal, hydrogen, biogas, and biomass (agricultural waste).
Many posts on social media platforms including Twitter and LinkedIn have been posted to celebrate this very important first milestone, but certainly not the last, as the state of California plans to use 60% renewable energy by 2030 and 100% carbon neutral by 2045.
"20 years ago, no one thought we could reach the 100% renewable energy mark. But little by little, we did it” – according to Dan Jacobson, a consultant for the California Environmental Agency.
"This is a great day for California and the rest of the world. 100% clean energy is ready to spread worldwide. The future is right here, today, in California” – Jacobson said.
"California proved, for one brief, shining moment, that we can do it.” – California Environmental Agency Director Laura Deehan added.
"Now we need to aim for the milestone of using 100% clean energy for the entire state in a day, a week, and a year. It's time to move to 100% clean energy, 100% of the time.”
This milestone was announced amid California's debate over the future of nuclear energy in the state. Governor Gavin Newsom appears to be under pressure to extend the operating life of the state's last remaining nuclear plant.
Since 2016, the state government has proposed a plan to replace the California plant within this decade with solar farms, wind power, and battery storage systems, but it is also considering applying for a capital injection. federal government to prolong its life.
Meanwhile, the amount of additional electricity from renewable energy sources in California continues to increase, with 600MW of solar power and 200MW of wind power coming onto the grid in early June; At the same time, the state will also increase battery storage capacity by 6GW, expected to increase from 1,3MW to 2.700MW on June 4.000.
According to GenK