The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has almost 80GW of solar and 148GW of storage in its interconnection queue, according to a 7 July presentation.
The operator has 97.6GW of renewables in its queue, with solar PV accounting for approximately 80% of this, and wind making up most of the rest. Last year, CAISO has 68GW of solar capacity in its queue.
It has also substantially increased the level of energy storage capacity in its queue. This year, 147GW is yet to be added, with 97% of this coming from battery storage. It is more than double the storage in queue last year (69GW).
Overall, the queue contains more than 245GW of renewable and storage capacity, with 37% “in various stages of the study process and will finish November 2021”, according to the company presentation on grid interconnection.
This month, a report from the Breakthrough Institute found that falling wholesale prices for solar in California mean subsidies will likely be needed to sustain cost-effective deployment in the state.
Just before, Californian lawmakers voted down a proposed change to the state’s net metering rules that would have cut rates for rooftop solar customers.