The Pine Tree Wind Farm and the Solar Power Plant are examples of solar and wind power projects that are booming in California.
Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagCalifornia set a historic milestone in the quest for clean energy on Sunday. On May 8th, the state produced enough renewable electricity to meet 103% of consumer demand, as the sun was shining and the wind was blowing. The previous record was set a week earlier.
The experts say the falling records are a sign of progress in renewable energy. Fossil fuels are still in the picture.
Natural gas power plants were still running even after the record was broken.
Natural gas power is not turned off in California despite the dramatic growth of renewable energy. It's because of a tricky time of day when the sun sets and solar farms stop producing. California needs to replace that power with other sources, like hydropower and natural gas.
The state is building huge battery projects to store power during the day so it can be used at sunset. It is still a small fraction of what is needed.
Even as California and more than a dozen other states work towards long-term goals of getting 100% clean energy, it is still not easy to get rid of fossil fuels.
The role of the person is not going to go away until there is a substitute for the service that natural gas generation provides.
It's an ideal time of year for renewable energy in California. Solar energy is on the rise because the days are getting longer. Mild temperatures and humming wind power are keeping electricity demand low.
The California Independent System Operator (ISO), which serves 80% of the state, had enough electricity from solar, wind, geothermal and small hydropower dams to meet all of the demand in their area for about an hour on April 30th.
Mark Rothleder, senior vice president at the California ISO, says it is an accomplishment because it shows you can do it for longer periods of time.
The expansion of solar farms has caused records to fall in the spring. Since 2005, renewable energy has more than tripled in the state. Carbon-free sources of power include hydropower, nuclear and renewables.
Natural gas power plants were generating 10% of the electricity on the California ISO's grid at the time of the record falling. The power plants are important to keeping the lights on later in the day.
When the sun sets quickly, solar power disappears from the grid, which means other sources of electricity must be found. The entire system doesn't fail if supply and demand stay balanced.
California uses hydropower, imports from other states and natural gas power plants to replace solar at sunset. Natural gas plants are not designed to turn on quickly. In order to use them at sunset, they must be running during the day because they take 4 to 8 hours to switch on.
We would have to shut them off below that. If you shut them off, you may not have them when you need them.
Natural gas power is still part of the energy mix even when there is lots of solar power. On some days, solar farms are told to turn off because there is too much power on the grid.
Extra renewable energy generated during the day will be stored so it can be available later in the evening. In the past two and half years, energy storage has grown 20-fold in California, as large battery projects are popping up around the state.
The more storage that we can get online that can be charged by solar, the better our chances are of making sure that when the state needs power the most, it is the cleanest it can be.
When the sun goes down, batteries make up a small portion of the power that is needed. The natural gas industry isn't looking at the exit anytime soon despite the state's ambitious climate change goals.
Alex Makler is senior vice president for the West region at Calpine Corporation, which runs a number of natural gas plants in California.
The Scattergood Generating Station could become a new renewable hydrogen project. As California moves to clean energy, fossil fuel companies are looking for ways to stay open.
Mario Tama/Getty ImagesNatural gas will continue to play a role in California's plan to get to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045, according to studies. The majority of natural gas power plants are still operating in 2045, even though the goal is supposed to be met.
The law states that 100% of retail electricity sales must be carbon-free. California makes more electricity than that because 15% of the power generated is lost in transmission before it is sold.
When the state hits the 100% benchmark, natural gas power plants could technically keep operating, because there is a loophole that means around 15% of power generated doesn't have to be carbon-free.
Natural gas power plants are being used less and less as renewable energy grows in California, which means less revenue for those companies. Power plants in the state receive payments not just for the electricity they make, but also for standing by to be available when the state needs them the most. Natural gas plants are increasingly relying on revenue.
The role of the natural gas generators is expected to evolve.
Fossil fuel companies in California know their time is running out. Makler says that Calpine is working on projects that would make natural gas projects more carbon-free. One pilot project would capture carbon emissions before they escape into the atmosphere. They are looking at using renewable hydrogen fuel in some of their facilities.
California and other states will have a long way to go towards a carbon-free electricity supply with the help of renewable energy and storage.
We should be doing everything we can to build huge amounts of solar, huge amounts of wind, huge amounts of energy storage and that will get us at least 90 percent of the way there to a clean grid, says Mark Specht, Western.
California may need new technologies to eliminate fossil fuels. If there are periods of cloudy weather or no wind, energy storage projects may need to be put on hold. Wind power is more reliable in the evenings, so it could take on a bigger role.
To hit its goal, California will need to ramp up renewable energy at unprecedented rates. Solar and wind projects will need to be built much faster than they are now. The batteries need to be built faster. Trade disputes and supply-chain shortages are threatening to slow the progress of the state.
We have to find a way to get off of gas.
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