North American Windpower: Wind Energy Reached Almost 8% Of ERCOT's Total Energy Usage In 2010

Wind Energy Reached Almost 8% Of ERCOT's Total Energy Usage In 2010

by NA Windpower on Wednesday 12 January 2011

Electricity use increased 3.5% in 2010 in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region. ERCOT, the grid operator and manager of the electric market for most of Texas, reported the findings in its 2010 demand and energy report.

Net energy for load was 319,097 GWh for the year, compared to 308,278 GWh in 2009 and 312,401 GWh in 2008. February had the highest energy increase compared to 2009 with 19.3%, followed by September at 9.8%.

Wind energy represented 7.8% of the total energy, compared to 6.2% in 2009 and 4.9% in 2008. April and November had the highest wind usage at 12.1% each, followed by March with 11.6%.

ERCOT recorded a new wind output record of 7,227 MW at 7:16 am on Dec. 11, 2010, representing 25.8% of the load at the time. The new peak beat the 2009 record by almost 1,000 MW. ERCOT has 9,528 MW of installed wind generation.

SOURCE: Electric Reliability Council of Texas

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