Energy Factoid: U.S. power grids are adding natural gas generation as they become increasingly unstable due to over-reliance on wind and solar
Natural gas generation acts as the "battery" for power grids
State regulators in Nevada recently approved NV Energy’s plan to build a new natural gas-fired power plant in Southern Nevada, a proposal criticized by Google and self-proclaimed clean energy groups that called for more analysis and consideration of carbon-free options. The gas plant is the first fossil fuel plant the utility has built in a decade.
The decision by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada gives the state’s largest energy provider permission to spend about $350 million to build and connect a 400-megawatt gas-fired combustion turbine facility to the utility’s Silverhawk power plant in North Las Vegas.
In a filing to the utility commission, NV Energy wrote:
“Nevada’s historic reliance on the energy market to meet peak period demand is no longer viable and has introduced significant risk of energy shortfalls and associated rolling blackouts in recent years.”
Their statement that they can no longer rely on the energy market to meet peak period demand means that other power generators face the same grid instability problem, so they can no longer depend on the secondary market to bail them out.
In their filing, NV Energy highlights that they have a balanced approach to power generation and plan to build out additional renewable generation as well as large battery storage units in the future, but
“Additional gas turbines are needed to make the grid more reliable in cases when there is high demand or a renewable energy plant goes offline (emphasis added).
NV Energy finally admits that the real problem is unreliable wind and solar, and only reliable natural gas-fired generation can stabilize their system.
As the comically-misnamed Inflation Reduction Act unleashes trillions of dollars for additional wind and solar projects, more power grids will be forced to do precisely what NV Energy is doing and install more natural gas turbines to stabilize their systems.
Thanks for the comment, Merideth. Indeed NV is another example of your "Fatal Trifecta" for a grid and there will be more, especially with all the billions of dollars the IRA is throwing at wind and solar. I recall your comment on Robert Bryce's podcast that grids should be boring and that certainly is not the case anymore. Ed
This is the most recent example of the action of "The Fatal Trifecta" for a grid. Fatal Trifecta is my name for a grid syndrome that has been repeated over and over, in recent years.
1) Overreliance on renewables, which stop and stop on their own schedule.
2) Back up by natural gas, which is delivered just-in-time through pipelines.
3) Overdependence on the neighbors, who are having the same weather your grid is having.
Green Leap Forward did a thoughtful post on the Trifecta. I am deeply appreciative.
https://greenleapforward.substack.com/p/the-fatal-trifecta-and-an-unpublished