Energize Weekly, November 21, 2018
Texas—the nation’s leader in wind generation—set an output record of 17,920 megawatts (MW) the afternoon of Nov. 12, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
Driven by sustained winds of 18 miles per hour (mph) with gusts up to 36 mph, measured at San Angelo, the state’s 12,500 turbines provided about 40 percent of the electricity demand of 44,258 MW. The wind record for load is 54 percent on Oct. 22.
The record, initially reported by S&P Global Platts, was set at 3:32 p.m. and surpassed by 2 percent the previous maximum output posted in February, according to the ERCOT Wind Integration Report.
Real-time prices in West Hub, one of the state’s four trading hubs, remained in the $10 a megawatt-hour range for most of the day.
Texas leads the country in wind power installations with a total of 23,262 MW and another 5,000 MW under construction. Oklahoma is in second place with 7,312 MW, according to the American Wind Energy Association. In the third quarter of 2018, a fifth of all wind development activity in the U.S. was taking place in Texas.
