AES President: Redondo Site Not Ideal for Wind, Solar

I would like to thank Joe Galliani for the suggestions he provided to AES Southland in his July 26 opinion piece. The ideas presented were certainly interesting and, as he pointed out in the article, AES is a big supporter of renewable energy. In total, AES has 1,515 megawatts of wind and solar resources already in operation across the globe and another 1,700 megawatts in advanced stages of development. For reference, one megawatt of electricity is enough to supply approximately 850 homes.

While we welcome any and all creative ideas, there are several reasons why converting the Redondo Beach facility to solar may not be practical. Utility scale solar installations are best suited for large areas of vacant land that have high levels of solar intensity. In California, these locations are most often found in the inland desert areas. Approximately 8 acres of land are required to produce one megawatt of electricity from solar panels. So even if the entire 52-acre AES site in Redondo were converted to solar, only about 6.5 megawatts of electricity could be generated — and this level of generation could only be achieved when the sun was shining most intensely. No electricity would be produced from sundown to sunrise.

By comparison, the existing Redondo Beach facility is capable of producing over 1,300 megawatts of clean natural gas-fired electricity when it is needed most — 200 times more electricity or enough to power one million more homes than what could be produced from solar panels.

AES is an active promoter of renewable energy and supports California's effort to produce 33 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020. We already generate renewable energy in California and are working to develop more. However, we also recognize our responsibility to help Southern California meet its overall energy needs by working to modernize our existing natural gas fleet, which is critically important if the state is going to meet its renewable electricity goals.

Electricity is unique compared to natural gas, water, oil and many other resources we use because of our limited ability to store it. With limited storage capability, the production of electricity must be instantaneously balanced with its consumption. When you turn on your television, the electricity needed must be produced virtually instantaneously by a generating resource that is connected to the electrical grid somewhere.

Solar and wind resources provide essentially no ability to vary their electrical output to match consumption. Their production is solely dependent on the intensity of the sun or the wind at any given time. This inability to control the output from most types of renewable resources make conventional generation, like what currently exists and what is being considered for the Redondo Beach Generating Station, imperative to operating a stable and balanced electrical system.

By turning the flame on a gas fired plant up or down, just as you would on your gas stove, you can vary the amount of electricity that is produced. This is a necessity in order to continuously balance supply and demand. For this reason, clean burning natural gas-fired facilities are critically important to maintain a reliable supply of electricity.

So, it is not really a question of renewables OR natural gas.  If we want a functioning electrical system that is environmentally friendly, we need a diverse portfolio of resources that includes all of the wind, solar and other renewables that we can economically build along with a fleet of clean burning natural gas facilities. 

To do this in the most responsible and cost effective way so California meets it's objectives, the electrical grid remains reliable and prices are reasonable, the generating resources should be built at locations that are best suited for each of the technologies. For solar, this means large plots of vacant land with high solar intensity, preferably near transmission lines.  For wind, this obviously means very windy locations. And for gas-fired resources, existing sites are arguably the most cost-effective, because much of the infrastructure already exists. 

AES wants to continue to be one of California's leading energy partners. We want to help the state meet its renewable goals by developing more wind and solar resources. And we want to be a provider of clean burning natural gas-fired resources to ensure our electricity supply remains reliable. We look forward to a continued dialogue regarding our desire to modernize the Redondo Beach facility in the optimal way.

Eric Pendergraft is the president of AES Southland.