The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said winter winds that brought low temperatures also contributed to a wind power generation record.
At 3 p.m. Christmas Day, 8,638 megawatts of power was provided by Texas wind farms. ERCOT said 6,600 mw were created in West Texas windfarms and another 1,600 were created along the Texas coast.
"This output represented nearly 26 percent of system load in ERCOT at the time. This new record is 117 MW higher than the previous 8,521 MW record set on Nov. 10," ERCOT said in a news release Wednesday.
ERCOT said wind power generation can vary dramatically due to weather conditions and that ERCOT is learning how to better harness that power when available.
"ERCOT has more than 10,000 MW of wind power capacity, with more than 20,000 MW of additional wind generation under review. The completion of high-voltage transmission projects in Competitive Renewable Energy Zones by the end of 2013 will improve ERCOT's ability to move wind power from West Texas to the metropolitan areas where demand on the grid is highest," ERCOT said.
One MW is enough electricity to power about 200 homes during periods when electric use is highest and about 500 homes during periods of typical consumption.
