Post: ERCOT unveils “new era of planning” to accommodate power demand growth

ERCOT unveils “new era of planning” to accommodate power demand growth

Continued strong economic growth is prompting a need to reformat the state’s energy transmission, ERCOT has said.

On April 23, ERCOT said it estimated additional 40,000MW of load growth by 2030 as compared to last year’s forecast, ERCOT said it will ensure efficient and innovative approaches in planning are leveraged to prepare the market for this accelerated growth. Summer peak demand is expected to grow between 8,000MW and 9,000MW by 2032. The current all-time peak demand record was set in August last year at 85,464MW.

The load growth is driven by population and economic growth, particularly in the form of crypto mining and data centers. ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said: “continued strong economic growth, new load is being added to the ERCOT system faster and in greater amounts than ever before […] as we develop and implement the tools provided by the prior two legislatures, ERCOT is positioned to better plan for and meet the needs of our incredibly fast-growing state.”  

ERCOT’s current suite of tools and programs includes weatherization standards and inspections, scheduled maintenance planning approvals, Fast Frequency Response Service (FFRS), and Firm Fuel Supply Service (FFSS). PUCT is administering the start of the Texas Energy Fund, aimed at incentivizing the rapid development of new, dispatchable energy supply in the ERCOT market. ERCOT is also working with stakeholders to develop additional tools to support improved reliability and market efficiency, including Real Time Co-Optimization, a Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM), Dispatchable Reliability Reserve Service (DRRS), and the establishment of a new Reliability Standard for ERCOT.

ERCOT also noted that there are 1,775 requests for interconnection from new generation — totaling 346,000MW.

Source: ERCOT

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