Massive Texas “Electricity Island” To Get First Ever Solar Energy Storage
Cleantech news has been pouring forth from the great state of Texas, but it looks like we ain’t seen nothing yet. Texas has just committed to its first ever grid-connected solar system with energy storage, courtesy of home-state solar experts OCI Solar Power and the global energy storage company Younicos. It’s a huge deal because the grid in question happens to serve 24 million Texans and other customers, accounting for about 90% of the electric load in the entire state.
If you guessed that the grid is managed by ERCOT, the The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, run right out and buy yourself a cigar. ERCOT has an extremely difficult mission to fulfill, and it is growing more difficult practically by the day. The agency is tasked with ensuring reliability within the confines of a virtual “electricity island” that lacks full connectivity with other grids in the US and Mexico, to serve a vast, complex, and skyrocketing number of consumers.
