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Posts Tagged ‘wind’

Offshore Wind Executive Order

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , , , , , , on January 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

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Title: Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects

Main points:

  • New leases: Immediately withdraws all OCS areas from wind leasing
  • Existing leases: Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases, identifying any legal bases for such removal, and submit a report with recommendations to the President
  • Review of Leasing and Permitting Practices:  The Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of all other relevant agencies, shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices. 

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Quaise/ERCOT Renewable Grid Analysis

Posted in climate, energy policy, tagged , , , , , , on December 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »

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.

Quaise-ERCOT-AnalysisDownload

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