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Insights > Wonder over worry: Electricity and the 2024 solar eclipse
Wonder over worry: Electricity and the 2024 solar eclipse
03/22/2024
For centuries, humans have been fascinated by the solar eclipse.
In some cultures, an eclipse has been explained as a mythic being swallowing the sun. In others, the phenomenon has been determined a cosmic response to mankind’s bad behavior. And in some folklore, an eclipse was attributed to an eternal romance between the sun and moon, whose occasional rendezvous stilled the heavens.
Whether an omen of impending doom or a celestial love affair, mortals have always observed the spectacle with rapt attention. And on April 8, as the path of totality for the 2024 eclipse crosses the United States, we will do so again.
Though science has now provided empirical answers to why and how an eclipse occurs, there’s still much wonder to be had when safely observing one. And Entergy employees will be on the job to ensure that our customers can fully enjoy that wonder – without worry about potential impacts to their electric service.
Made in the shade
“At Entergy Arkansas, we’re well-positioned with a diverse fleet of power generation sources,” noted John Schwegler, manager of operations planning in Arkansas. “We don’t anticipate any impact from our generation fleet that would affect customers’ electric service during this year’s event.”
Entergy’s Arkansas service area is directly in the path of eclipse totality. Solar energy accounts for less than 2% of power capacity for our Arkansas customers. While plant operators can’t know the exact amount of solar generation that will be impacted during the 3-minute total eclipse, other generation sources like natural gas, hydropower and nuclear will offset any dip in solar generation.
“It’s actually fairly normal for a solar plant’s output to reduce to almost zero for a few minutes at a time,” said Craig Richardson, solar asset manager. “This occurs regularly when heavy cloud cover passes overhead, for example.”
“At Entergy Arkansas, we’re well-positioned with a diverse fleet of power generation sources. We don’t anticipate any impact from our generation fleet that would affect customers’ electric service during this year’s event.”
- John Schwegler, manager of operations planning in Arkansas
In those cases, as during April’s eclipse, Entergy’s power generation employees rely on the company’s diverse fuel supply mix to ensure customers don’t experience any service interruptions.
For example, our nuclear generation, including the two units at Arkansas Nuclear One in Russellville, generate enough clean power to meet approximately 65% of Entergy Arkansas’ total demand. And, in addition to being unaffected by a solar eclipse, generating nuclear energy avoids the emission of greenhouse gases.
“Clean, carbon-free nuclear energy naturally complements renewable energy,” said Doug Pehrson, Entergy site vice president at Arkansas Nuclear One. “Nuclear energy is not weather-dependent. Nuclear power can be produced 24/7, 365 days a year.”
Taking a shine to reliability
That’s not all, though. Our Searcy Solar Energy Center, which has a capacity of 100 MW, also boasts a 3-hour, 10 MW battery backup. This feature helps the plant combat the intermittency that can impact renewable power generation. The batteries store excess energy when the sun is shining. Then, during evening hours or under cloud cover, our customers can use the energy stored in those batteries.
“Our diverse generation mix and interconnected grid mean we don’t rely too heavily on any single source of generation to ensure the comfort and convenience of our customers,” added Schwegler. “A variety of options keeps our grid flexible and better able to respond to changing conditions.”
And that means Entergy Arkansas customers can dispense with the worry during this April’s eclipse – and focus solely on the wonder. Have a happy #EclipseDay!
Related article: Entergy Arkansas prepared for solar eclipse - 2/29/2024
