Wind power experts say Texas grid needs work
Strong spring wind production in West Texas has been trapped as major transmission lines undergo seasonal maintenance. The lack of sufficient transmission capacity to move wind power from sparsely populated West Texas to densely populated North Texas has led to low on-peak prices and some negative off-peak prices in trading in the ERCOT West zone and for "seller's choice" power.
"Small companies may get spooked" by the low prices, said Declan Flanagan, chief executive of E.ON Climate & Renewables North America which hopes to double its U.S. wind generation to 1,150 megawatts by early next year.
As market participants and regulators develop large, new transmission lines to take advantage of the state's wind resource, the market for wind will stabilize, Flanagan told the Gulf Coast Power Association conference in Houston.
"Long-term, ERCOT is a growing market, driven by natural gas" that will continue to attract thousands of megawatts of new wind generation," he said.
Related News
German official says nuclear would do little to solve gas issue
BERLIN - Germany’s vice-chancellor has defended the government’s commitment to ending the use of nuclear power at the end of this year, amid fears that Russia may halt natural gas supplies entirely.
Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, who is also the economy and climate minister and is responsible for energy, argued that keeping the few remaining reactors running would do little to address the problems caused by a possible natural gas shortfall.
“Nuclear power doesn’t help us there at all,” Habeck, said at a news conference in Vienna on Tuesday. “We have a heating problem or an industry problem, but not an electricity problem…
