Power from solar nears amount lost from San OnofreJun 10 - Denisse Salazar The Orange County Register
Solar power generation on California's electricity grid reached an all-time high Friday, totaling enough to power more than 1.5 million homes, state officials said Sunday. The record of 2,071 megawatts hit at 12:59 p.m. Friday, said Steven Greenlee with the California Independent System Operator, which operates the state's electricity grid. That nearly equals the 2,250 megawatts of nuclear-powered electricity generation lost in January 2012, when small amounts of radiation began leaking from Southern California Edison's San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. One megawatt will power about 750 homes, Greenlee said, meaning the state's solar power generation was able to power more than 1.5 million homes at Friday's record peak. "This new record is remarkable considering the amount has more than doubled since last September when solar peaked at 1,000 megawatts," said Steve Berberich, California ISO president and CEO. "We are excited by this trend and expect to hit more record peaks on a regular basis." California is the largest producer of solar power in the nation. The statewide electric demand on Friday was about 36,000 megawatts, and solar power met more than 5 percent of the demand for electricity, the agency said. "We have more solar facilities that are connected to the grid, and just like any renewable resource on that particular day and on that particular time, we had quality sunshine that we were able to convert into electricity," Greenlee said. Despite the solar-wattage surge, regulators predicted very-tight supplies of electricity for California this summer. Natural gas-powered generators were expected to fill much of the need. Cal ISO, Southern California Edison and the energy agencies of the state are going to be looking at a combination of resources and approaches to replace power that is no longer going to be available, Greenlee said. City News Service contributed to this report. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=28899315 |