"The Texas Senate passed a bill Thursday that leading business interests fear would lead to an age of expensive power and rolling blackouts.
If passed by the House, state S.B. 715 would require all renewable projects — even existing ones — to buy backup power, largely from coal or gas plants.
This would require solar plants in particular to buy backup power to “match their output at night — a time when no one expects them to produce energy and when demand is typically at its lowest anyway,” consultant and energy expert Doug Lewin wrote in an April analysis"
Watch this lead to inventive new ways to store energy.
Providing power at night is much more reasonable than forcing an equal/backup gas plant.
Requiring solar to have 2-4 hours battery backup power is a great way to expand grid while still keeping existing plants around. Peaker/backup plants have always had a business model based on high rates. If the law says a solar project must buy into a legacy plant and promise to keep it ready for backup, it’s not totally crazy, as long as it can charge extortionist rates when it is needed. It doesn’t reduce benefit of battery storage, paired with larger solar array.
inventive new ways to store energy.
100 hour storage, like iron air batteries, is cheap but not as economic as mature battery technologies for power arbitrage. Still, if there is a regulation to have 18-48 hours of power reserves, then it is an ok solution. The problem with long term storage with solar is that if you get 6 hours of sun in a day, half to charge, half to sell directly, you only add 6 hours, even if most days you wouldn’t draw down 6 hours at night due to lower demand.
Hydrogen electrolysis is another solution to monetizing overproduction. It can be done more cheaply with methane than water, and still be zero emissions, zero capture and sequestration, with marketable carbon black solid as byproduct. Keeping a bit of H2 onsite, with a fuel cell as backup, or NG electric plant, can be profitable, but all depends on how much you have to pay for backup, and how much profit from use.
Introducing V2G service that pays EV owners to be “the backup” in addition to battery arbitrage revenue is another path, that will happen soon enough, but where some kind of regulatory obligation to have it, makes it happen with more commitment.
This bill explicitly excludes batteries and storage of power. This just makes it so solar companies have to match their production with fossil fuel purchases.
It is to stop or slow expansion of renewables, as companies will essentially have to additionally and directly invest in fossil fuels to expand their industry.
Ah yes… texas. Home of the “free market”.
We will use the police power of the state to enforce our freedom!!!
This is idiotic. Besides being an obvious attempt to fin el renewables money to coal/gas…they have to match their output during the day, at a time when demand isn’t even as high.
Must spread the 666 particle made from black demon blood sealed in the earth!
So they need battery backup? Or can they buy from hydro plants?
No batteries don’t count.
"The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to create a new “dispatchable” power credits trading program that would effectively require utilities, generation companies and electric cooperatives in Electric Reliability Council of Texas territory to offset new renewables and battery capacity — with an equal amount of new dispatchable capacity beginning as early as next year.
The bill’s definition of “dispatchable” excludes batteries while also exempting power generation companies that exclusively operate battery energy storage systems from the dispatchable power generation requirement."
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/texas-senate-bill-dispatchable-power-credits-trading/743185/
If this passes the solar companies should close up shop and abandon Texas. Head for a state with as much sun but less stupid.
Leave the assholes to their fate.
I imagine that’s the goal
At first I thought, this isn’t toooooo terrible as making batteries to store any excess would actually be great, although there could be situations where you don’t need excess due to excess baseload already…
This is just bonkers though. Wow.
They could partner with hydro and wind and make up the difference with battery storage
The bill specifically says they cannot use battery. Which is literally the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. This bill was written by the coal and gas lobby.
If this passes, the solar and wind companies should simply close up shop and tell Texans to buy all their power from coal and gas and see how far that gets them. These dipshits will only learn through pain.
Texas is an awful place. It is full of Texans.
Hmmm, I wonder how that’ll jibe with the presidents executive order on energy:
Protecting American Energy from State Overreach: This order instructs the Attorney General to identify and challenge state and local laws that could impede the development or use of domestic energy resources . . .
Of course the AG would have to step in and actually do something
Not really much hydro in Texas, or close by
Drag hopes the grid produces too much energy at night and fries everyone’s fridges. That would lead to a lot of public outcry and hopefully they’ll repeal this bill.
With a bill like this coming along, I expect more trouble up ahead. Those politicians need to be voted out
Checkout RayGen in Australia. They provide 24hr power with sunshine power
Searching… it’s batteries
They’re not allowed to use those
I’m just wishing my utility offered Time of Use rates so I could meaningfully optimize my EV charging and water heating use timing.
this kinda sucks, but honestly shouldnt be too bad in the long run because of all the batteries on the grid
Batteries are excluded from the calculations.
well this actually does suck
The Hill tries to make backup energy as something that brings volatility and rolling blackouts, which makes no sense. Implying they believe that wind and solar should go without backup, and consistent generation at night, which is basically extra capacity. If you are going to need to roll out back up generation in the future, might as well do it now, instead of later. This does a couple of things for the Texas GOP goal of increasing reliability, it increases the responsibility on solar and wind producers to address their own volatility, instead of dumping the volatility on ancillary services, which get less revenue, because of their off-time, accommodating wind and solar. By forcing solar, and wind producers to buy capacity from what would most think as only backup generation, the Legislature wants to force wind, and solar to participate in 24 hour production. A mandate like this makes room for reliable energy rollout, basically more support for natural gas, and presumably batteries, instead of just crowding out the preferred energy types.
You don’t understand Texas’s powergrid. It’s a free market, there is little planning or foresight. Large scale power production is provided by hundreds, possibly thousands, of independent producers who can turn their production on as they see fit, in other words, when it’s profitable. Therefore backup generation for solar is already present. If there’s not enough, then the market will dictate how much to build and where. That’s how it works in Texas.
instead of dumping the volatility on ancillary services, which get less revenue, because of their off-time, accommodating wind and solar.
Free market, they can deal with it. Yes, it’s a dumb system, but thems the rules in Texas.
A mandate like this makes room for reliable energy rollout, basically more support for natural gas, and presumably batteries, instead of just crowding out the preferred energy types.
This bill is clearly designed to stifle renewable production in favor of fossil energy. Requiring one mode of production to have or purchase backup generation isn’t fair in the current market system. Do away with the market system first before putting a thumb on the scale.
Also preferred energy types? Energy types with the least amount of emissions should be preferred. Not gas, not coal, not oil, or whatever else Texas wants to burn.
Per the text of the bill solar producers could just claim maintenance every night.
Edit: I would appreciate if the downvotes engaged a little. I just checked the bill and, based on my reading, it would allow you to contract with a battery bank or you could just say you have planned maintenance every night.
Original comment: As unpopular as your comment may be, it is likely correct.
Right now solar is so cheap during the day that they can bid a negative price on the market during the day making sure they are part of the mix. Here is a great article/video on it from Practical Engineer
Obviously solar doesn’t actually cost negative money to run, so this will require them to bid a more realistic price that will, in the long run, facilitate an actual conversion to green energy.