The weather here in California has been warm and dry for a few weeks now. A high pressure system sits over the west coast and refuses to budge. This leads to calm, occasionally cloudy days, quite common at this time of year before the storm season begins.
This affects electricity generation especially wind and solar. When the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine these renewable energy providers suffer.
 |
| (Courtesy CAISO) |
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) measures the output from renewable energy providers to the State grid. As you can see in the graph on the left it never got windy in California yesterday. There was enough sun to energize solar panels for 11 hours. The weather wasn't cooperating.
However, geothermal energy was still plugging away, supplying a constant supply of clean, dependable, renewable energy 24/7, 365 days a year.
 |
| (Courtesy CAISO) |
In fact, yesterday in California, geothermal energy was the biggest provider of electricity to the CAISO grid, with almost 20,000 MWh. Solar energy (PV and thermal) peaked at 11 in the morning and only supplied 19,000 MWh. Wind was a distant sixth among all renewables.
Geothermal energy was the number one renewable energy provider - and this is not the only day when it supports the economy here in California.