On March 26th, wind generation in Texas reached a new output record, hitting 10,296 MW, according to ERCOT.
This record output of wind accounted for nearly 30% of electricity on the ERCOT grid at the time, and responsible for the electricity of over 5 million homes. Texas is the leader of wind generation, and there are more turbines coming in the near future.
What’s the future for Wind?
Wind Generation in Texas is blowing in the right direction. In fact, there’s over 27,000 MW under study, which is over 2 ½ times the current generation.
At the end of 2012, America’s wind generation was over 60 GW, which is enough to power over 15 million homes a year.
To put this growth in perspective, in 2006, wind consumption was .26 quadrillion BTUs, in 2013, it was 1.6 quadrillion BTUs. That’s a 5x increase in wind supply. Comparatively, solar was .068 in 2006, and .318 in 2013, which is 3.6x increase in supply. That’s means that solar, which has been exploding in popularity, is still producing only 20% the amount of energy that wind produces each year.
Texas Is Leading The Charge
Of the over 55,000 MW active generation interconnection requests in Texas, 26,700 are from wind, which is over 48%. These active generation interconnection requests (which are projects under study) are located throughout Texas. And they account for a majority of the proposed generation in 4 of the 5 zones, (Coastal, West, Panhandle and South Texas).
Why Don’t We Hear Much About Wind?
Because wind is primarily commercial and few folks have residential wind farms, there’s less emphasis of wind generation than on solar. Solar is significantly more consumer focused. However, wind is renewable energy, and produces 0 CO2 emissions. By choosing a renewable energy plan, you can cut down on emissions, and help support wind energy in America. Visit chooseenergy.com to see rates and plans in your area today.
