Source: ieefa.org
California energy regulators on Feb. 10 adopted a plan to add roughly 25,500 MW of new renewable energy capacity and some 15,000 MW of energy storage and demand response by 2032 to help decarbonize the world’s fifth-largest economy.
The California Public Utilities Commission’s decision cuts the state’s planning target for greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector to 35 million metric tons, or MMT, within the same timeframe, nearly a quarter lower than the previously approved 46 MMT.
“It means that in 2032, our grid will be at 86% greenhouse gas-free,” Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen said ahead of a unanimous 4-0 vote.
California state law requires 60% of all retail electric sales to come from renewable energy resources by 2030, en route to 100% zero-carbon power by 2045.
The preferred system plan, which the CPUC updates every two years, incorporates its June 2021 order for investor-owned utilities, community choice aggregators and other load-serving entities to add at least 11,500 MW of clean energy resources between 2023 and 2026 to help replace the state’s last nuclear power station, the 2,240-MW Diablo Canyon plant, and several aging natural gas-fired power plants.
The new capacity envisioned in the plan includes a heavy mix of utility-scale solar, onshore wind and battery storage. It also includes more than 1,000 MW of geothermal and roughly 1,700 MW of offshore wind. The portfolio carves out 1,000 MW for long-duration energy storage, modeled as pumped hydropower.
