The frigid cold air has been blamed for record electric consumption, forcing rolling Blackouts across Texas. However, the major culprit may not be due to the record electricity demand, but rather, frozen wind turbines. While it’s true that Texans are using record levels of electricity to keep warm during extremely cold temperatures, half of the state’s wind turbines are out of service.
If you look at most of the mainstream news about the Texas blackouts, you won’t find much at all about frozen wind turbines. But, according to the Brandon Mulder Austin (Texas) American Statesmen, Frozen wind turbines hamper Texas power output; grid operator says, “Nearly half of Texas’ installed wind power generation capacity has been offline because of frozen wind turbines in West Texas, according to Texas grid operators.”
The article states that “Wind Power” made up only 11% of Texas’s total electric grid power in 2015, but it’s now nearly one-quarter. Thus, Texans are now counting on 23% of their electricity from wind power. That’s fine when the wind is blowing. But, what happens when the wind stops blowing, or the wind turbines freeze?
Because roughly 12,000 MegaWatts of Wind Power is offline, it has put tremendous pressure upon the rest of the grid. That is why natural gas and electricity prices have been spiking to NOSE BLEED LEVELS. According to the Financial Times article, Texas starts blackouts as frigid weather sends power prices surging, the price of Natgas has spiked more than $100 MMBtu from less than $3 MMBtu before the energy crisis hit. Furthermore, electricity rates surged even higher.
I can assure you that if the same record cold temperatures hit texas with only 5-10% of its power in Wind & Solar, there wouldn’t have been rolling blackouts. However, when Texas Wind Power accounts for 23% and Solar 4% of total electric grid capacity, then the supposed RENEWABLE ENERGY can cause complete HAVOC when the wind stops blowing, and the sun stops shining. Although, due to Texas Wind Power consisting of 23% of the state’s electricity generation, it is the WEAKEST LINK.
Yes, indeed, the record cold air will finally leave the state, and electric demand will drop as the wind turbines unfreeze and begin to work again. But, what happens as the state adds even more wind and solar power over the next decade as the NEW GREEN ENERGY policy put forth by the Biden Presidency goes FULL STEAM AHEAD??
The world has no idea what a DISASTER it will face as it ramps up GREEN ENERGY.
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Hi Steve..
when failure of existing infrastructure and plan for future energy investment is going down ..
does it mean..future path for oil energy dependency is for sure and later increase in metals prices is also guaranteed.
One subject that is never talked about on the “news” or the Internet is this: There is really nothing with being “energy dependent”.
Germany and Japan are two of the most “energy dependent” nations on Earth. Yet they have arguably the best economies of any nation.
The problem comes when one, or one’s community or nation do not produce enough industrial goods to offset the cost of energy.
For all intents and purposes, Germany and Japan can easily afford to import all the energy they need because they still have most of their industry and highly educated work force.
The US and many European nations are in danger of losing the ability to fund their imports of energy due to the fact that their people and governments have decided to regulate energy production and consumption to death, and even prohibit its supply and development.
Danger is not funding energy but switching to unsustainable renewables.
If you have all the money in the world and need to import energy, from where to import if all around you are windfarms and solar farms. And it just happens that coldest winter knocked on the door. You can burn paper currency to warm you up.
To deprnd on imported energy is dangerous.
You need to have as much as possible localy produced energy.
I agree to both of your points ..
– as of now local production is not major gdp % part, so imports will give a big shock to usa life style
– Even if we consider local energy resources, when they are reaching peaks/ energy cliff, then result will be bad over the time.
to the extent i understand ..problem looks to be complex and not a single view or point at given time may help in resolving it ..all your views are also very much valid too..
Yes, it’s always prefirable to have native energy sources, obviously. But I think it’s better to import now, and use native supplies as a reserve.
There will always be some energy available. The geology of every well, field and mine is different. Depletion rates will vary.
The most important thing in the future will be who has the deepest pockets and that comes from having native industry.
Steve,
Once again you present important information that is scarcely available on any other website! You have an uncanny ability to dig deeply. Great stuff
(Continuation from above.)
This is precisely why Texas is having the above named problems.
China, however, is rapidly expanding their energy supplies, infrastructure and networks. Any “green” projects that they talk about or build are only for show, and to play lip service to the Environmental Movement and the millions of like-minded fools in the West.
Remember, they are avid believers and practicioners of their most famous native literary work, “The Art of War”.
Meanwhile, the only nation that can possibly challenge them in their plan for world domination is stopping the construction of a major pipeline, shuting down gas and oil production, pledging to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and putting any road block they can into hindering energy production.
In Germany they apparently have heaters in the wind turbines to stop them freezing. Great idea but often when its cold there is no wind, so they become a drain on the already struggling base load power generators.
Snow on solar panels curtailing output is seldom mentioned either.
very good points ..
these are real time impact points to consider in design or usage in life..
If freezing rain [fog, mist] sets in, blades will ice over regardless of heaters, which can only protect the bearings and inner mechanical. Then you have too much reciprocating mass to be effectively moved by the wind, even if the bearings/generator are not frozen.
Kind of says it all. Part ripped from a tweet.
A helicopter running on fossil fuel spraying a chemical made from fossil fuels onto a wind turbine made with fossils fuels trying to dislodge the snow and ice on its giant blades. Given the size of the blades (note chopper size for scale) relative to the spray tank, made from oil, multi gas burning trips would be needed. A costly job.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EuPGdX3XMAETxXo?format=jpg&name=small
Tucker Carlson: The great Texas climate catastrophe is heading your way:
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-texas-green-new-deal-climate-catastrophe
Steve,
I did some article research this morning using a couple search engines. It is amazing that just like lies perpetrated about other things by “The Powers That Be”, there is a lot of denial about windmills being a problem in icy weather.
Articles are out there actively denying that very many windmills actually ever ice up. And ignored is the fact they don’t generate at times the wind doesn’t blow, OR IT BLOWS SO HARD THEY CAN BE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED BY EXCESSIVE ELECTRICITY GENERATION OR BEARINGS & WIRES OVERHEATING [WEARING OUT; FIRES].
Here is a quote that won’t get picked up by much mainstream media:
“Texas’s energy emergency could last all week as the weather is forecast to remain frigid. “My understanding is, the wind turbines are all frozen,” Public Utility Commission Chairman DeAnn Walker said Friday. “We are working already to try and ensure we have enough power but it’s taken a lot of coordination.”
DC, u r right. I saw similar articles expressing denial.