While the focus continues to be on expanding means and methods for generating electricity from renewable sources, the limits of the existing grid to handle that generated power and distribute it to where it is needed are beginning to show.
Last weekend in Texas, wind power reached a record high point of 6,242 MW represented 22% of demand. That’s fantastic news, and we love to see that kind of records being broken.
However, utility officials were forced to curtail wind power generation “because the supply of electricity outstripped the capacity of lines to move the power to urban areas such as Dallas-Fort Worth.”
Production needs to continue to increase. But this points out what may become a more frequent problem, and dealing with the grid cannot be forgotten either.
image: CC 2.0/ roxannejomitchell