Texas sets new daily record for wind power on Feb. 9

Feb. 14, 2013
According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the amount of electricity produced from wind by Texas wind farms on the evening of Feb. 9 reached 9,481 megawatts, up 814MW from the previous record of 8,667MW set in late January.

Some interesting nuggets on the Texas wind industry in this Reuters report. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the amount of electricity produced from wind by Texas wind farms on the evening of Feb. 9 reached 9,481MW, up 814MW from the previous record of 8,667MW set in late January.

Kent Saathoff, ERCOT's vice president of grid operations and system planning, said in the press release that as new wind farms and transmission lines are added to ERCOT’s grid, new records are being set in Texas, which leads the nation in wind turbine capacity at 10,400MW. One megawatt can supply about 200 Texas homes during hot summer days and about 500 homes during other weather periods.

The release said most of the wind farms are being built in west Texas, where the wind generally blows the strongest during the evening hours and in the spring and fall months when power demand is low. Wind accounted for 9.2% of the power consumed in Texas in 2012, up from 8.5% in 2011, ERCOT said.