WIND STILL BREAKING TEXAS RECORDS

Wind Power Expected To Help ERCOT Manage High Electricity Demand This Summer

4 May 2012 (North American Windpower)

“The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state's grid operator and manager of Texas' wholesale electric market…expects to use a variety of resources - including wind power - to meet anticipated electric demand this summer.

“ERCOT says its generation outlook is improved by more than 2 GW of wind power, which tends to be available to the grid during the late afternoon, when it is needed most in the summer. Wind power generation in the ERCOT region continues to break records, and instantaneous wind power served nearly a quarter of ERCOT load twice in April.”

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“Another 48 MW of commercial-scale solar power - including about 20 MW that went online this spring - also has been added to the grid…[N]early 2 GW of [conventional power plant] capacity that had been…taken offline for an indefinite period of time…[has been returned] to service…[and] about 1.5 GW of demand-response resources, which include energy users that reduce or drop their energy use at ERCOT's request if generation reserves drop below 1.7 GW [will be available]…

“ERCOT expects to have a total of nearly 74 GW of generation resources available to serve summer needs. The grid operator’s summer assessment assumes weather will be warmer and drier than the 15-year historical average, but less extreme than in 2011…”