Even as Permian Basin oil and gas producers generate more oil and natural gas to provide energy globally, they are demanding more and more electricity to power that production.
A new study from Enverus Intelligence Research, a subsidiary of the energy-dedicated software as a service firm Enverus, quantifies the potential electrification of the region’s oil and gas assets, its impact on grid demand, transmission flows and the generation required to serve the growing demand.
Riley Prescott, senior associate at EIR, told the Reporter-Telegram the study forecasts Far West Texas demand will more than double by 2040 due not only to electrification trends in the oil and gas industry but to the growth of cryptocurrency mining.
East Texas has traditionally had high load levels within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid, given the major metropolitan cities located in that region, he said. West Texas has traditionally had low-cost renewable energy generation that wanted to move east.
What has been appealing about Far West Texas is the presence of low-cost renewable energy – wind and solar, he said.
“Now, with load growth, that power will stay home,” he said.
That load growth will support significantly more renewable development without curtailments, he continued. Without significant power generation buildout, he cautioned that the Far West zone will see power prices rise significantly.
Said Prescott, “We see Far West Texas as a haven for wind and solar.”
The study placed a special focus on compression, stationary sites, he said. He explained that natural gas combustion, specifically compression, is the most practical source of emissions to electrify by connecting to the grid as those emissions come from stationary sites with long expected lives.
