-March 20,2021-
A new multi -jurisdiction report suggests 100% renewable energy is possible in California by 2045. To get there , the state needs to triple development of promising technologies including offshore wind, much more solar and a great leap in battery storage along with carbon capture. It points to the need to develop 10 gigawatts of offshore wind.
The California Energy Commission (CEC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) on March 15 released the first joint agency report and a summary document examining how the state’s electricity system can become carbon free by 2045.
Here is the breakdown
The report adds that investing in theses technologies will benefit California’s economic development
“California’s policies have spurred innovation and created markets for renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, low-carbon fuels, and zero-emission vehicles. The state is a leader in patent registrations across all major clean technology (cleantech) categories and California’s companies have received more than 50 percent of all U.S. venture capital investment in cleantech.”
Among the report highlights
• California will need to sustain its expansion of clean electricity generation capacity at a record-breaking rate for the next 25 years. On average, the state may need to build up to 6 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable and storage resources annually. By comparison over the last decade, the state has built on average 1 GW of utility solar and 300 megawatts (MW) of wind per year. Over the next three years, electricity providers regulated by the CPUC will add another 8 GW of clean energy resources.
• In addition to social benefits such as less air pollution and improved public health, transitioning to a carbon-free electric system will also create thousands of jobs such as manufacturing and installing wind turbines and solar panels and developing new clean energy technologies.
• Modeling of the core scenario for achieving 100 percent clean electricity showed a 6 percent increase in total annual electricity system costs by 2045, compared to the estimated cost of achieving 60 percent renewable electricity by 2030.
With a need for 10,000MW of onshore wind off the California
coast – developers identifying the Central Coast are already lining up much of that with
the state agency the California ISO – that approves future
connections to the state grid. The CAISO has listed at least
3500MW off the Diablo Canyon coast that are in a
queue that could come on line in the next few years as Diablo
Canyon nuclear power plant is retired by 24/25. Offshore wind
could utilize the same transmission lines now in place onshore
heading inland from Morro Bay as well as Diablo Canyon. Over 1000mw of battery storage is in a queue as well.
