California Grid Runs on 100% Renewable Energy for Over 9 Hours

The state of California was powered entirely by renewable energy for over 9 hours last Saturday and 8 hours on Sunday, reports Adele Peters in Fast Company, making Sunday “the ninth straight day that solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and battery storage fully powered the electric grid for at least some portion of the time.” Of the last 45 days, renewable energy powered the grid entirely for at least a portion of the day on 37 days.

As Peters explains, “California also has natural gas plants that keep running at low levels in case backup power is needed. Even when the state is producing more than enough renewable energy to cover all of its needs, it’s still exporting some gas power to other states. But it also exports solar power, helping make other grids cleaner.”

To limit waste, California is growing its battery storage capacity, and is now home to the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage system. “Grid operators also want to add new transmission lines to make it easier to send more renewable energy to other states.”