Wind, nuclear and natural gas-fired generators increased their
shares of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas generation mix
at the expense of coal plants in January, a report issued Thursday
shows.
Relatively lighter loads and lower natural gas prices may account
for the change in fuel mix.
ERCOT's latest Demand and Energy Report shows that total energy
supplied by the independent system operator totaled 27.3 TWh in
January, down from 27.7 TWh in December and 27.5 TWh in January
2016.
At the ERCOT North Hub, the ISO's most liquid power market, on-peak
electricity averaged $25.32/MWh in January, Platts data shows,
compared with $28.55/MWh in December and $20.82/MWh in January 2016.
At the Houston Ship Channel, which serves as a benchmark for
ERCOT, natural gas averaged $3.223/MMBtu in January, compared with
$3.474/MMBtu in December and $2.211/MMBtu in January 2016.
Coal-fired plants supplied the largest amount of power in ERCOT in
January at 35.6% -- down from 38.3% in December but up from 24.9% in
January 2016.
Natural gas-fired plants supplied the next-largest percentage, at
29.9%, up from 29.6% in December but down sharply from 46.2% in
January 2016.
Wind farms supplied the next-largest percentage, at 19.8%, up from
18% in December and 14.9% in January 2016.
Nuclear plants supplied the next-largest total, at 13.9%, up from
13.7% in December and 13.4% in January 2016.
Solar and hydropower each supplied 0.4% of ERCOT's power in January,
up from 0.2% for each in December. In January 2016, solar supplied
0.2% and hydro supplied 0.3%.
January hit its monthly peakload on January 6 at 59,636 MW, while
December hit its monthly peakload on December 19 at 57,924 MW, and
January 2016's monthly peakload occurred January 11 at 49,263 MW.
--Mark Watson,
Markham.watson@spglobal.com
--Edited by Jason Lindquist,
jason.lindquist@spglobal.com
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