Rising curtailments in Texas magnify grid, storage shortfalls, report finds

In Texas, Reuters reported that the curtailment of U.S. wind and solar farms are set to rise in the coming years, denting the revenues of generators, as renewable energy deployment outpaces the buildout of transmission capacity and energy storage.

In Texas, wind power curtailments are forecast to increase to 13% of total available generation by 2035, up from 5% in 2022, if there are no upgrades to the state power grid, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a research note. Solar curtailments are forecast to hike from 9% to 19% under the same grid scenario, it said.

Grid operators curtail wind and solar when supply exceeds demand and the power cannot be transported to other regions, curbing operators’ revenues from generation and federal production tax credits (PTCs) that are based on output, the report stated.

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