Quaise Energy, an ultradeep geothermal energy pioneer, investigated 2022 and 2023 data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to examine what the grid would look like without fossil fuels.
The full report is attached. Key points:
- On average, solar produces full power 25% of the time, whereas wind does so 35% of the time.
- Without fossil fuels, Texas would need to scale up its wind and solar capacity by 3.4x and energy storage by 42.4x just to meet the average hourly demand.
- Despite these high values for renewables and 5 GW of firm nuclear power, the system only meets demand 76% of the time, equivalent to 176 days over the two-year period when generation and storage fall short.
- Even with a 5x overbuild and corresponding 10x in storage capacity, only 88% of demand can be fully satisfied, not considering transmission challenges.
- Just meeting the average demand, with a 3.4x capacity expansion, would require more than 50,000 km2 of land, equivalent to the size of Lake Michigan.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 