The American Wind Energy Association of California (AWEA-California) has advised the state needs to increase investments in a diverse mix of renewable sources of electricity, including on- and offshore wind.
AWEA-California has released a statement, written by director Danielle Osborn Mills, following power outages in the state.
Osborn Mills said California’s power system requires “significantly more diversity”, as it currently relies heavily on solar, storage, and gas.
During recent blackouts, she said there is “once again a push for more storage, microgrids, and other alternatives to back these systems up”.
“State leaders must recognise that we need more renewables of all kinds to keep the lights on,” the letter stated.
Osborn Mills stated: “California’s goal is to shift to 100% clean energy over the next 25 years while providing electricity safely, reliably, and affordably.
“Renewable energy has demonstrated for more than a decade that it can and will be able to meet all of these targets. But our renewable system in California and across the West is not sufficiently built out, and was designed around a different set of resources.
“As a result, the state needs to refocus its planning and procurement processes to enable utility-scale wind, solar, and storage to provide reliable power to California before retiring our aging conventional fleet.
“Right now, California has a renewable energy system that is heavily reliant on the sun, and solar resources are performing exactly as it should: solar power can produce huge amounts of energy, but the state needs a better plan for providing clean energy in that evening period when the sun sets.”
Osborn Mills said that offshore wind is an “innovative renewable solution”, capable of providing “vast quantities” of renewable energy when the sun goes down.
“California is fortunate on this front, with enough potential off our coast to power more than a third of the state’s peak energy use during the heat wave this week. It is time to jumpstart the planning that will be needed to make offshore wind a reality,” the letter stated.