ERCOT set a new record for wind penetration last week when it hit 50% at 3:50 a.m. March 23. The ISO was generating 14,391 MW of wind energy at the time.

The Texas grid operator reported a peak load of 45,257 MW that afternoon. Wind was responsible for 15,477 MW at its peak that day.

ERCOT has produced as much as 16,022 MW of wind generation, which happened on Christmas last year. It manages more than 17 GW of wind energy and has 28.6 GW of proposed wind capacity in its interconnection queue.

The ISO had been in competition with SPP to see which would be the first North American grid operator to reach 50% penetration. However, SPP eclipsed that barrier Feb. 12 and has established several new records since then, the last coming March 19 when it reached 54.22% penetration with 12,078 MW of wind energy.

SPP has 16 GW of installed wind capacity and another 21 GW in the interconnection queue.

— Tom Kleckner