Tag Archives: solar panels

Renewables generated a record amount of electricity in 2020, EIA says

At-a-Glance:

In 2020, renewable energy sources (including solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, and geothermal energy) generated a record 834 billion kWh of electricity, or about 21% of all the electricity generated in the United States. Only natural gas (1,617 billion kWh) produced more electricity than renewables in the United States in 2020, according to the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). To learn more, read “Renewables generated a record amount of electricity in 2020, EIA says.”

Key Takeaways:

  • Renewables surpassed both nuclear (790 billion kWh) and coal (774 billion kWh) for the first time. EIA said this outcome was due mostly to “significantly less coal use” in U.S. electricity generation and steadily increased use of solar and wind.
  • U.S. electricity generation from coal in all sectors declined 20% from 2019, while renewables, including small-scale solar, increased 9%.
  • Wind, currently the most prevalent source of renewable electricity in the United States, grew 14% in 2020 from 2019.
  • Utility-scale solar generation (from projects greater than 1 MW) increased 26%, and small-scale solar, such as grid-connected rooftop solar panels, increased 19%.
  • Renewables are again forecast to eclipse coal in 2022 as capacity grows and coal’s cost advantage eases.

Path to 100% Perspective: 

Investing in renewable baseload is now viewed as buying ‘unlimited’ power upfront, as opposed to betting against fluctuating oil prices and narrowing environmental regulation. The early leaders of the renewable transition are now outperforming their counterparts in the fossil fuel sector. New capex is now surging in the power sector, driving the build-out of renewables at an unprecedented rate in areas of the world, such as Chile and New Mexico, that yield the highest renewable power capacity factors. Faced with the magnitude of the transition, some power producers have stopped investing – stopped progressing. Some are waiting to see if renewable technology costs fall even further as the sector transforms in front of their eyes. However, power producers that stall their investments risk being left with portfolios that rely on legacy technologies, which can only provide diminishing returns, while the low hanging fruit for solar and wind parks is progressively being capitalized by the first movers. Delaying the transition to renewables will reduce the competitiveness of power producers, as well as putting national climate targets out of reach. 

 

Photo by Luis Tosta on Unsplash

How Green Energy Will Transform the Ranks of the World’s Biggest Electric Generators

At-a-Glance:

The world’s energy sector has embarked on a transitional journey to a clean, green, low-carbon future powered by windmills and solar panels. It’s going to be a long trip. According to the International Energy Agency, we still derive an incredible 80% of our primary energy from fossil fuels—with oil contributing 32%, coal 27% and natural gas 23%. To learn more, read “How Green Energy Will Transform the Ranks of the World’s Biggest Electric Generators.” Reading this article may require a subscription from the news outlet.

Key Takeaways:

  • Electric industry analyst Hugh Wynne of research shop SSR says carbon dioxide will be regulated in one way or another, via a carbon tax, cap-and-trade or emissions allowances.
  • Analysts believe companies with stubbornly high emissions are going to have to pay to pollute — while those with low emissions will enjoy a profitability advantage.
  • Wynne found the “dirtiest” utilities are those with coal-fired fleets in China, Russia and India.
  • Meanwhile, some of the more progressively minded utility companies are keen to take advantage of new tools evolving out of advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
  • Forbes Global 2000 companies Southern Company, Exelon, and Dominion Energy are all customers of a startup called Urbint, which was founded by Forbes 30 Under 30 alum Corey Capasso and has raised more than $40 million in funding for its A.I.-driven infrastructure safety platform.

Path to 100% Perspective:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a very broad field. Forecasts for price and power are generated by AI and represent the expected trajectory or probability distribution of that value. In the end, as a power trader, it is important to remember the historical data is not a picture of the future, but rather a statistical distribution that can be leveraged to inform the most probable outcome of the unknown future. AI is more capable at leveraging statistics than people will ever be. The benefit of using AI is more effective utilization of the existing infrastructure. There is quite a bit of under-utilized infrastructure in the power generation industry. However, with the use of greater intelligence on the edges of the network coupled with great intelligence at the points of central dispatch, under-utilized infrastructure can be maximized for a more reliable power system.

Texas Power Crisis Moves Into Fourth Day With Millions in Dark

At-a-Glance:

Economic fallout from the extreme winter weather that caused widespread blackouts is continuing to have a ripple effect even as power is restored. “The current energy crisis is much bigger than most people realize. This is a global crisis,” Paul Sankey, an oil analyst at Sankey Research, wrote in a note. “The largest energy outage in U.S. history.” To learn more, read “Texas Power Crisis Moves Into Fourth Day With Millions in Dark.” Reading this article may require a subscription.

Key Takeaways:

  • While Texas’s grid operator was able to restore power to 1.8 million homes by Wednesday February 17, 1.2 million homes remained without electricity.
  • Generation capacity on the grid reached 52 gigawatts Wednesday evening, the highest level since Monday morning. Electricity load climbed to 49 gigawatts, indicating that power had been restored to some customers.
  • As of February 17, 43 gigawatts of the state’s generation capacity remained offline, including 26.5 gigawatts of thermal generation that shut due to frozen instruments, limited gas supplies, and low gas pressure.
  • Frozen turbines and icy solar panels shut down nearly 17 gigawatts of renewable energy.
  • Gas production has plummeted to the lowest level since 2017.

Path to 100% Perspective:

The recent Texas power crisis impacted millions of people in Texas and neighboring states. One reason these blackouts occurred is that many power plants are not designed to handle extreme ambient temperatures. Limited natural gas supply and low gas pressure also posed a challenge for power plants across the state. Winterizing gas supply and power plants is a must to avoid similar situations in the future. Although it is more expensive to winterize the gas supply and power plants, this is required to ensure reliability when extreme weather occurs.

 

 

Photo by Nishanth K on Unsplash