Texas idles a bunch of wind, but also has desperate need for immense amount of fresh water — which simply cannot be met with falling & ground supplies. The obvious solution (pitched by GW Bush?) was: wind power for gulf desalination. There's unlimited demand for fresh water, it'd have marginal impact on coastal brackishness, and means the wind could be run at nameplate full-time; peaker demand just means reducing power to desalination plants, which can be done extremely quickly. No need for batteries.
> Texas idles a bunch of wind, but also has desperate need for immense amount of fresh water
Texas needs freshwater just like California does--aka not at all.
Both states have plenty of freshwater for their citizens. The citizens simply don't soak up that much water. Yes, even with lawns, swimming pools, and golf courses there is plenty of water for citizens.
What both states don't have is plenty of water for agribusinesses--they are pumping their aquifers dry. And desalinization with renewables has zero hope of ever being cost effective enough for agriculture.
So... they both need freshwater. I agree that there is plenty for residents. and I'm annoyed at the silly stuff they ask people to do, like lather up in the shower with the water off. but agriculture is pretty important for everyone.
I suspect that, at least when pitched by GW Bush, the capital costs would have reduced or eliminated profitability. (And maybe not just capital? I wouldn’t be surprised if intermittently operated equipment fouls as or more quickly than continuously operated equipment, so opex may not scale down all the way with utilization.)
