ERCOT sets wind power generation record on Christmas Day

Records keep getting shattered in the wind energy output arena, highlighting the clean, affordable energy source’s reliability and potential to power the grid all the more.

This time, the news came from the Lone Star State. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc., (ERCOT) set a wind generation record of 8,638 MW at 3:11 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2012, exceeding the previous record by 117 MW.

ERCOT is the grid operator whose territory comprises the vast majority of Texas. More than 6,600 MW of the power included wind generation from West Texas wind farms, combined with over 1,600 MW from wind farms along the Texas Coast.  ERCOT recorded the previous wind output record of 8,521 MW on Nov. 10, according to a Jan. 2 news release.

The new wind energy output record represented nearly 26 percent of system load in ERCOT at that time. The Friday after Thanksgiving, the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) got a record-setting boost from wind power, with output from wind turbines surpassing 10,000 MW and supplying more than a quarter of the ISO’s total generation. In reporting on the record, MISO took the occasion to highlight wind’s cost-saving power.

Related articles:

Southwest Power Pool achieves wind penetration record, December 20, 2012
ERCOT, SPP systems see record wind generation levels, November 21, 2012
Texas system operator tallies new record: 8,368 MW, June 21, 2012
WINDPOWER 2012 Update: Xcel Colorado sets new mark with 56.7% wind, June 5, 2012
Wind generation sets new records in Texas, Spain, May 22, 2012
Across the U.S., wind power sets new generation records, February 13, 2012
Xcel sets world record with 55.6% wind penetration, November 28, 2011
After a scorching week, wind power lessons from the Texas heat wave, August 11, 2011
Wind energy integration: Some fundamental facts, June 23, 2011

By Carl Levesque, Consultant, http://www.awea.org/blog