California in the United States previously set to achieve 100% zero-carbon electricity or renewable energy power supply by 2045, and now California briefly approached the goal a few days ago, and renewable energy power generation also met demand for the first time.
The California Independent System Operator noted last Saturday (April 30) that California’s main grid was running at 99.87% renewable energy for about two minutes, breaking the previous record of 97.58% set on April 3.
In addition, California also reached other green energy milestones on the same day. The power generation of renewable energy such as solar energy and wind energy can meet the required power, and the solar energy will be 100% effective before 3 pm on Saturday.
According to the operator’s information, at 2:5 pm last Saturday, the power generation of renewable energy exceeded the demand for electricity for the first time. The power generation of green energy was 17,636 MW, and the power demand was 17,548 MW. The good performance was maintained for about an hour. Energy generation exceeded demand the most at 2:40 pm, exceeding demand by 623 megawatts, until demand exceeded capacity at 5:50 pm.
Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, noted that wind, hydro and solar provided 80 percent of California’s electricity needs for eight hours on Saturday.
In 2018, California enacted a 2045 100 percent clean energy goal, and according to California’s Independent Power Dispatch Center (ISO), even briefly, getting close to the goal can help demonstrate progress.
However, this is only a momentary thing. The electricity consumption in spring is relatively low, and the demand for heating and cooling will naturally decrease at moderate temperatures. The longer daytime also drives solar power generation.
Frankly speaking, it is not easy to get rid of the dependence on fossil fuels, because California still needs to maintain bright lights and air-conditioning needs during the terrible summer heat wave. According to the California Energy Commission (CEC), natural gas will supply 37% of California’s energy in 2020, more than 33% of renewable energy, of which solar energy and wind energy accounted for 13% and 11% respectively.
