Study uncovers major oversight in planning for US power grid transformation: 'Underestimates the capacity and investment needed'
Our warming world could lead to shifts in the Western United States' water availability and a drop in hydropower production. Together, those will drive up the costs to decarbonize electric grids for the region.
What's happening?
While there has been good news recently about transforming our country's power grid to wean the nation off dirty energy sources that release heat-trapping gases into our atmosphere, many challenges remain.
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According to a study in Nature Communications, the electric sector faces a dual challenge: decarbonization to remediate climate change and adaptation to handle its repercussions.
Our overheating planet has created shifts in water availability that could mean a drop as high as 23% in hydropower production by the middle of this century. This might coincide with an annual 2% uptick in the electricity demand. The study's researchers say the increases in power capacity needed to account for these factors would be equivalent to nearly three times California's peak demand, which would incur costs of around $150 billion.
"Grid planning that ignores climate projections and water linkages underestimates the capacity and investment needed to achieve decarbonization and maintain grid reliability," according to the study's authors, per The Hill. "Failing to account for these changes in energy supply and demand via the water sector may overlook cascading vulnerabilities."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/study-uncovers-major-oversight-in-planning-for-us-power-grid-transformation-underestimates-the-capacity-and-investment-needed/ar-AA1vHOOH?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=420dc614f27340bb90985995174f4628&ei=72
