Bloomberg reported that California's main power grid reached a milestone of 99.87% renewable energy last Saturday (April 30), maintaining the record for approximately two minutes, taking another step toward its goal of achieving 100% clean electricity by 2045. Most of the green electricity came from a large solar farm south of Los Angeles.
California achieves nearly 100% green electricity in just 2 minutes
California set a goal of achieving 100% clean electricity by 2045 in 2018. Governor Gavin Newsom's budget proposal for next year also includes an investment of approximately $2 billion to promote the 100% clean energy transition.
Daniel M Kammen, an energy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said on Twitter that California's achievement shows "that if we reduce fossil fuel subsidies and political inertia, we can achieve 100% clean energy every day by 2030."
According to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which oversees the state's power grid, this achievement broke the previous record of 97.58% renewable energy on the 3rd of the same month. While the record lasted only two minutes, CAISO believes it still demonstrates progress toward California's goal of 100% renewable electricity.
Although Denmark and South Australia have both achieved 100% green electricity targets in the past, California's main power grid, which needs to supply 80% of the state's electricity needs, is much larger than the former two.
California enjoys year-round sunshine and its renewable energy mainly comes from solar energy.
The Independent reported that California, the nation's largest economy, produces more renewable energy than any other state due to its year-round sunshine. Most of California's renewable energy comes from solar power, followed by wind power, geothermal energy, biomass energy, biogas, and small hydropower.
According to the latest data from the California Energy Commission, in 2020, about 59% of California's electricity came from renewable and zero-carbon energy.
However, California already generated more than 60% of its electricity from renewable and zero-carbon energy in 2019. However, the proportion declined last year due to a severe drought, reduced hydropower generation, and the COVID-19 pandemic that delayed the operation of new clean energy power plants.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/233989)
