Strong performance for both wind and solar energy January 15, 18 & 19
Electric Power Supply Review
U.S. contiguous 48 States
January 15-21, 2022
Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash near The Dalles, Oregon. Published May 29, 2019. Windpower was most reliable and consistent in the northwest United States during the third week of 2022.
Quick summary
non-combustion
wind, solar, nuclear and hydroelectric combined supplied 38.96% of total electric power generated.
adding wind and solar energy capacity 7X existing would be adequate to supply consumer hourly consumption January 18-19 without battery storage or backup fossil fuel combustion generation.
solar electric
1.74% of total electric energy generated in the period.
windpower
11.04% of total electric energy generated in the period.
reduced output January 16-17, 20.
Note: see APPENDIX for discussion of EIA data sources and trans-grid electric power transfers.
U.S. hourly electric power supply - contiguous 48 States
January 15-21, 2022
Natural gas and coal combustion contributed the largest share of electric generation for the January 15-21, 2022 period. Nuclear power produced about one-fifth of the total. Windpower supplied more than five times the electric output of solar.
Total electric energy generated
82,845,172 MegaWatthours (MWH)
Non-combustion energy sources
38.96% of total
(wind, solar, nuclear and hydroelectric)
U.S. contiguous 48 States hourly electric generation from combustion and non-combustion energy sources: January 15-21, 2022. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Hourly Grid Monitor chart created from Linecurrents.live custom query. Times are Eastern zone.
Total electric generation from combustion and non-combustion energy sources: January 15 -21, 2022. Linecurrents.live chart, U.S. EIA data.
Solar electric
The largest U.S. solar electric sources are in Texas (Central time zone) and California (Pacific time zone). Daily solar production maximums are shifted in the chart due to chart times are Eastern zone.
maximum day
January 18
247,161 MWHminimum day
January 15
150,777 MWH7-day total
1,444,951 MWHdaily high-to-low
variation: 39.00%
U.S. contiguous 48 States hourly electric generation from solar energy January 15-21, 2022. Times are Eastern zone. Linecurrents.live chart, U.S. EIA Hourly Grid Monitor data.
Windpower
Mid’-day January 10 and most hours January 12-13 were periods of reduced windpower generation. These wind slowdowns caused an increase in combustion electric generation - (see next two sections, below). No daily pattern of repeating daily highs and lows at regular times of day developed during the 7 days.
maximum day
January 19
1,728,567 MWHminimum day
January 16
934,312 MWH7-day total
9,142,183 MWHdaily high-to-low
variation: 45.95%
U.S. contiguous 48 States hourly electric generation from wind energy: January 15-21, 2022. Times are Eastern zone. Linecurrents.live chart, U.S. EIA Hourly Grid Monitor data.
Regional windpower
United States regions defined by U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Southeast lacks significant windpower generation and is not included in this regional analysis. Map adapted from U.S. EIA Hourly Electric Grid Monitor . . . colors and region labels added by Linecurrents.live.
Hourly windpower for January 15-21, 2022 is shown in regional charts. Chart times are local. Northwest, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions span two time zones
- - -
January 15-21 regional
windpower highlights
Most consistent
Northwest except January 19
Most underperforming
California
Most reliable daily cycle
None
The next section examines the hourly impact of removing all combustion electric supply from the U.S. contiguous 48 States’ three electric transmission grids, and increasing wind and solar electric generating capacity by a factor of seven. Results assume that new wind and solar electric plants are at existing sites, and perform the same as older units. Other new sites, such as off-shore windpower, may produce daily or seasonal production patterns which differ from existing sites.
Daily electric supply if combustion sources are eliminated and wind/solar increased 7X
The following analysis illustrates scale-up of existing U.S. wind and solar electric generating capacity, and elimination of combustion generation sources. Nuclear and hydroelectric capacity now in service remain changed. Charts illustrate this scenario for each day January 15-21, 2022.
Total actual U.S. hourly generated electric energy supply is represented in the following charts by a gray line:
includes all electric generating sources: wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas, coal, petroleum and other.
is an estimate of U.S. electric consumers’ hourly consumption.
does not include electric energy imports or exports with Canada and Mexico via electric transmission lines.
Actual wind and solar hourly electric supply are shown as dashed green and yellow lines.
Arrows indicate when excess wind or solar stored in batteries or other systems could be released to fill gaps between consumer electric demand and variable weather-dependent supply. No arrows mean supply is adequate for the day, or storage capacity of 4-6 hours was exhausted in previous days.
Earlier charts of actual hourly wind and solar energy production show strong performance from both sources January 18-19. In the 7X wind and solar scenario, charts show these days to have more than adequate electric supply to replace current fossil-fuel generation without energy storage to fill energy supply shortages.
Appendix
data source
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Hourly Electric Grid Monitor is the source for data for this report. EIA provides this disclaimer:
Disclaimer: The information submitted by reporting entities is preliminary data and is made available "as-is" by EIA. Neither EIA nor reporting entities are responsible for reliance on the data for any specific use.
Factors which may affect future electric power transfers among U.S. regions
inadequacy of existing transmission grid to move large amounts of electric power between regions.
new transmission line construction delays due to right-of-way acquisition and State/local jurisdiction issues.
States, Balancing Authorities and Regions priorities for use of potential excess variable wind/solar electric energy, such as:
a) export electric energy to other Balancing Authorities or Regions.
b) store electric energy, instead of export, for later consumption.
c) consume electric energy immediately produced for electric transportation, water and indoor space heating, cold storage for air-conditioning, and other uses for which consumption may be controlled to synchronize with variable energy sources production.
d) hydroelectric supply replacement due to Western U.S. drought.
e) nuclear electric supply replacement due to plant closures.