jimmy m wrote:
There is an interesting article on the power outage in Texas in USA Today.
'Massive failure': Why are millions in Texas in the dark amid rolling blackouts, winter weather?Representatives from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), said there are 45,000 megawatts offline. Of that, 15,000 megawatts are wind (33%) and 30,000 are gas and coal (66%). Between two and three million customers were without power as of early Tuesday evening.
"The reality is very, very large. 30-50% of capacity in parts of Texas went down," he said. "You're not out 5 to 10% of the power." ERCOT also said it was implementing rolling blackouts on Monday to "to protect the electric grid from uncontrolled, cascading outages."
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A decade ago, my region was struck by several tornadoes. I lost power for several days. When power was finally restored, we had a few weeks of rolling blackouts. The power typically came on at around 2AM and went off at around 3AM. Here is the secret to rolling blackouts. You must be prepared. Plan on what you will do when the power comes on and maximize its use.
For example, we turned all the lights on in the house and the moment we had electricity, our house lit up like a Christmas tree. So even though we were sound asleep in the dead of night, we woke up. Then we managed to cook a hot meal, take a bath, wash our clothes, watch a little television and get on the Internet, recharge our cell phone batteries all in the space of an hours time. We planned for it.
Quote:
Even mighty Texas, the energy powerhouse of America, is feeling the wrath of Mother Nature.
A deep freeze this week in the Lone Star state, which relies on electricity to heat many homes, is causing power demand to skyrocket. At the same time, natural gas, coal, wind and nuclear facilities in Texas have been knocked offline by the unthinkably low temperatures.
This situation could have wide-reaching implications as the US power industry attempts to slash carbon emissions in response to the climate crisis.
That nightmarish supply-demand situation has sent electricity prices in energy-rich Texas to skyrocket more than 10,000% compared with before the unprecedented temperatures hit. Texas has been hit with life-threatening blackouts. More than 4 million people in the state were without power early Tuesday.
In response, Governor Greg Abbott has called for an investigation into the nonprofit Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as ERCOT, which controls most of the state's grid. The group's CEO on Tuesday defended the controlled outages, saying they "kept the grid from collapsing" and sending the state into a complete blackout.
Although some are attempting to pin the blame on one fuel source or another, the reality is that the Arctic temperatures are hobbling fossil fuels and renewable energy alike.
"The extreme cold is causing the entire system to freeze up," said Jason Bordoff, a former energy official in the Obama administration and director of Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. "All sources of energy are underperforming in the extreme cold because they're not designed to handle these unusual conditions."
The ripple effects are being felt around the nation as Texas' prolific oil-and-gas industry stumbles.
Motiva's sprawling Port Arthur oil refinery, the largest in the United States, shut down Monday, citing "unprecedented freezing temperatures."
Countless drillers went offline as temperatures in the Permian Basin, the nation's fracking capital, plunged below zero. The supply shortfall helped send US oil prices above $60 a barrel for the first time since January 2020.
Prices at the pump are also on the rise.
It's striking that these power outages are happening in a state with abundant energy resources. Texas produces more electricity than any other US state — generating almost twice as much as Florida, the next-closest, according to federal statistics.
But the problem is that not only is Texas an energy superpower, it tends to be an above-average temperature state. That means its infrastructure is ill-prepared for the cold spell currently wreaking havoc.
Critics of renewable energy have pointed out that wind turbines have frozen or needed to be shut down due to the extreme weather.
And that is significant because almost a quarter (23%) of the power in Texas last year was generated by wind power, according to ERCOT.
Even though other places with colder weather (like Iowa and Denmark) rely on wind for even larger shares of power, experts said the turbines in Texas were not winterized for the unexpected freeze. Cold weather protection like antifreeze and heating elements within the turbine blades and components are not commonly used in Texas.
"That adds cost, so it is cheaper to not have those additional features," said Jesse Jenkins, an assistant professor at Princeton University who studies energy systems and policy.
But this is not just about wind turbines going down. Natural gas and coal-fired power plants need water to stay online. Yet those water facilities froze in the cold temperatures and others lost access to the electricity they require to operate.
Nuclear also depends on water to operate and at least one unit in South Texas shut down, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Texas gets about 11% of its power from nuclear.
"Even if Texas did not have wind power, you would still have power prices going to the moon," said Matthew Hoza, manager of energy analysis at BTU Analytics.
The problem, according to Hoza, is that a lot of companies in Texas did not invest in cold protection for power plants and natural gas facilities.
"When you're in West Texas, are you really going to spend money on that equipment?" Hoza said.
The energy crisis in Texas raises also questions about the nature of the state's deregulated and decentralized electric grid. Unlike other states, Texas has made a conscious decision to isolate its grid from the rest of the country.
That means that when things are running smoothly, Texas can't export excess power to neighboring states. And in the current crisis, it can't import power either.
"When it comes to electricity, what happens in Texas stays in Texas," Cohan said. "That has really come back to bite us."
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
16 Feb 2021, 6:03 pm
How ironic!
