Texas Power Crisis Highlights Fragility of Growing Dependency on ‘Unreliable’ Sources of Energy: Exp

[Fishrrman]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/texas-power-crisis-highlights-fragility-of-growing-dependency-on-unreliable-sources-of-energy-expert_3698580.html

Texas Power Crisis Highlights Fragility of Growing Dependency on ‘Unreliable’ Sources of Energy: Expert

BY TOM OZIMEK   February 16, 2021

The brutal cold snap that crippled Texas’ power system and spread to other states, leading to blackouts in over four million homes and businesses, highlighted the growing vulnerability of the grid to increased dependency on less reliable sources of energy like wind and solar, an expert told NTD in an interview.

Jason Isaac, a former state representative and current director of Life:Powered, a project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said that the power crisis spurred by the recent deep freeze exposed the fragility associated with the global push to ditch “reliable” fossil fuels in favor of “unreliable” renewables.

“Reliable is our nuclear, our natural gas, and our coal,” Isaac said. “Natural gas and coal can ramp up or ramp down on demand,” he said. “They’re what’s referred to as ‘dispatchable energy.'”

“Our ‘unreliables’ produce electricity when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. And then they freeze up at really cold temperatures, too,” he said.

Isaac suggested that the surge in “unreliables” amounts to a subsidized takeoff of politically correct, but economically incorrect sources of energy.

“Unfortunately, we’ve subsidized and depend too much on virtue signaling and really given these unreliables incredibly huge benefits over the last decade, and now those chickens are coming home to roost,” he said.

More at URL above...

Poster's note:
If the above page won't load for you, DISABLE JAVASCRIPT and then reload the page. It will then be fine.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

If one does not understand history, one is doomed to repeat mistakes.

But not to worry, our energy czar John Kerry, will get us out of the slump

[thackney]

It is not just those.  Our Natural Gas is impacted as well as priority goes to heating.  75% of the states generation sources have been impacted.  Many of the cooling systems for generators cannot handle this cold as well.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

It is not just those.  Our Natural Gas is impacted as well as priority goes to heating.  75% of the states generation sources have been impacted.  Many of the cooling systems for generators cannot handle this cold as well.

Yes, but the theme of this article is 100% spot on.

The power generation that has almost all benefits from government handouts is less reliable in the current situation than natural gas, coal or nuclear.

I read that up to 50% of all windmills were impacted by the freeze.

We will all die of the cold if we continue marching down that path of selectively financing those energy needs which are less reliable than what traditionally has powered the Texas economy.

And here's our governor just last week accepting an award for furthering this destructive renewable scheme instead of devising a comprehensive strategy to limit the potential harm from bad weather like we are in.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Receives Tri Global Energy's Wind Leadership Award
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/texas-gov-greg-abbott-receives-tri-global-energys-wind-leadership-award-301225238.html#:~:text=The%20annual%20award%20recognizes%20commitment,advisor%20Thomas%20Ratliff%20(right).

Oh, and I looked up the website of who gave this award to Abbott.

There home page prominently displays

Renewables: Consistent and reliable

https://www.triglobalenergy.com/

Pretty ironic right now, isn't it?

[IsailedawayfromFR]

And now we see what else surfaces on why Texans are freezing without power.

You guessed it.  The feds.

Time we got rid of this relationship.

The Disgusting Reason That Millions of Texans Spent The Night Without Power

Texas produces more electricity than it consumes and maintains a buffer referred to as the “state’s reserve margin.” This margin ensures that we should never have to suffer from rolling blackouts like California.

Then why are so millions of Texans without power right now? Why are we dealing with rolling blackouts?

The answer is all-too-familiar: our relationship with the federal government.

In anticipation of this unprecedented power demand, Texas could have maxed out power generation. However, we couldn’t. Like a lowly beggar, Texas had to first ask for permission from the federal government to generate enough power to keep our people warm. Why? Because cranking up our power plants to full production might violate federal pollution limits.

There is a clear metaphor here. Texans were powerless because our elected officials ceded authority to a slow-moving, uncaring gaggle of federal bureaucrats.

https://tnm.me/news/political/the-disgusting-reason-that-millions-of-texans-spent-the-night-without-power?goal=0_244a299551-aa19c3ac87-321252206&mc_cid=aa19c3ac87&mc_eid=9ee19a558c

[thackney]

And now we see what else surfaces on why Texans are freezing without power.

You guessed it.  The feds.

Time we got rid of this relationship.

The Disgusting Reason That Millions of Texans Spent The Night Without Powerhttps://tnm.me/news/political/the-disgusting-reason-that-millions-of-texans-spent-the-night-without-power?goal=0_244a299551-aa19c3ac87-321252206&mc_cid=aa19c3ac87&mc_eid=9ee19a558c

And the requirement was waived.  This looks like a very misleading article.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-15/pollution-limit-waived-for-texas-power-plants-in-emergency-order

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, a move expected to violate anti-pollution rules that comes amid a deepening electricity crisis in the state that has cut power to millions of homes.

The Energy Department order, requested by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, authorizes power plants throughout the state to run a maximum output levels, even as such a move is anticipated to result in a violation of limits of pollution....

[IsailedawayfromFR]

And the requirement was waived.  This looks like a very misleading article.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-15/pollution-limit-waived-for-texas-power-plants-in-emergency-order

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, a move expected to violate anti-pollution rules that comes amid a deepening electricity crisis in the state that has cut power to millions of homes.

The Energy Department order, requested by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, authorizes power plants throughout the state to run a maximum output levels, even as such a move is anticipated to result in a violation of limits of pollution....

And now the WSJ chips in, noting that the dependency of Texas power generation from wind turbines went from 42% to 8%.

The Political Making of a Texas Power Outage
How bad energy policy led to rolling blackouts in the freezing Lone Star State.
Why are millions of Americans in the nation’s most energy-rich state without power and heat for days amid extreme winter weather? “The people who have fallen short with regard to the power are the private power generation companies,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott explained. Ah, yes, blame private power companies . . . that are regulated by government.

The Republican sounds like California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who lambasted private utilities for rolling blackouts during a heat wave last summer. Power grids should be able to withstand extreme weather. But in both these bellwether states, state and federal energy policies have created market distortions and reduced grid reliability.

Mr. Abbott blamed his state’s extensive power outages on generators freezing early Monday morning, noting “this includes the natural gas & coal generators.” But frigid temperatures and icy conditions have descended on most of the country. Why couldn’t Texas handle them while other states did?

The problem is Texas’s overreliance on wind power that has left the grid more vulnerable to bad weather. Half of wind turbines froze last week, causing wind’s share of electricity to plunge to 8% from 42%.   https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-political-making-of-a-texas-power-outage-11613518653

[dfwgator]

People need to be skewered for this.  This is frickin' Texas.

[dfwgator]

And now the WSJ chips in, noting that the dependency of Texas power generation from wind turbines went from 42% to 8%.

The Political Making of a Texas Power Outage
How bad energy policy led to rolling blackouts in the freezing Lone Star State.
Why are millions of Americans in the nation’s most energy-rich state without power and heat for days amid extreme winter weather? “The people who have fallen short with regard to the power are the private power generation companies,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott explained. Ah, yes, blame private power companies . . . that are regulated by government.

The Republican sounds like California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who lambasted private utilities for rolling blackouts during a heat wave last summer. Power grids should be able to withstand extreme weather. But in both these bellwether states, state and federal energy policies have created market distortions and reduced grid reliability.

Mr. Abbott blamed his state’s extensive power outages on generators freezing early Monday morning, noting “this includes the natural gas & coal generators.” But frigid temperatures and icy conditions have descended on most of the country. Why couldn’t Texas handle them while other states did?

The problem is Texas’s overreliance on wind power that has left the grid more vulnerable to bad weather. Half of wind turbines froze last week, causing wind’s share of electricity to plunge to 8% from 42%.   https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-political-making-of-a-texas-power-outage-11613518653

I had high hopes for Abbott at one point.  Now I wouldn't vote for him for Dog Catcher.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

People need to be skewered for this.  This is frickin' Texas.

Abbott prefers receiving his award from the wind energy companies instead of working to minimize the damage from dependency upon wind turbines.

Texas Governor Receives TGE’s Wind Leadership Award
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,428893.msg2382034.html#msg2382034

It is rich seeing the website of this company. https://www.triglobalenergy.com/

Renewables: Consistent and reliable

[Bigun]

I had high hopes for Abbott at one point.  Now I wouldn't vote for him for Dog Catcher.

  That makes two of us!

[Bigun]

People need to be skewered for this.  This is frickin' Texas.

   What is the point of having your own independent power grid if you still have to beg permission from uncle sugar to use it?  And that doesn't address the $billions that have been wasted on green energy junk instead of focusing on things that have been PROVEN to work!

[thackney]

And now the WSJ chips in, noting that the dependency of Texas power generation from wind turbines went from 42% to 8%.

No way this represents Texas power production.  There may exist a point in time when wind was high and demand was low that that peak happened, but it in no way represents Texas power capabilities.



https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/are-frozen-wind-turbines-to-blame-for-texas-power-outages/

...But the vast majority of energy the state generates is through natural gas. In October 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that renewables generated 22% of the state’s energy, while gas generated 51.8%.

In ERCOT’s plan for this winter, it expected that thermal and hydro resources, i.e. gas, coal and water, would need to generate 67,000 megawatts per hour during a high demand event to support the state. This didn’t take into account a historic snow storm where demand would increase and supply would be threatened.

On Monday, frozen instruments and a limited gas supply forced 30,000 MW/h of power offline. This was half of what ERCOT believed they would need. According to the agency, wind turbines account for less than 13% of the total generation that was lost. The majority of which was coal and gas....

- - - - - - - - -

Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy for the ERCOT Region (SARA)
Winter 2020/2021
http://www.ercot.com/content/wcm/lists/197378/SARA-PreliminaryWinter2020-2021.pdf

Operational Resources (thermal and hydro), MW 67,547
Capacity from Private Use Networks, MW 3,631
Coastal Wind, Peak Average Capacity Contribution, MW 1,480
Panhandle Wind, Peak Average Capacity Contribution, MW 1,411
Other Wind, Peak Average Capacity Contribution, MW 3,251
Solar Utility-Scale, Peak Average Capacity Contribution, MW 254

[IsailedawayfromFR]

No way this represents Texas power production.  There may exist a point in time when wind was high and demand was low that that peak happened, but it in no way represents Texas power capabilities.

And
Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy for the ERCOT Region (SARA)
Winter 2020/2021
http://www.ercot.com/content/wcm/lists/197378/SARA-PreliminaryWinter2020-2021.pdf

From link
PRELIMINARY
Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy for the ERCOT Region (SARA)
Winter 2020/2021
SUMMARY
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) anticipates there will be sufficient installed
generating capacity available to serve system-wide forecasted peak demand this winter
(December 2020-February 2021).

Capabilities and installed generating capacity do NOT translate into generated power, which besides its cost is the #1 problem with relying upon renewables for power generation.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Capabilities and installed generating capacity do NOT translate into generated power, which besides its cost is the #1 problem with relying upon renewables for power generation.

And I also wonder how much of the natural gas generating capacity here is simply backup capacity and unused unless the wind turbines do not operate or sun does not shine for solar power, which happens with frequency.

[thackney]

Capabilities and installed generating capacity do NOT translate into generated power, which besides its cost is the #1 problem with relying upon renewables for power generation.

Did you miss the word "contribution"?

This is not nameplate value, but the average rate expected to contribute to the grid. 

30,000 MW of thermal (coal, gas, etc) was dropped from the grid while demand climbed higher than they forecast.  All types sources had problems but the gas network nearly "crashed".  Spot prices screamed high as 5 Billion CF/D dropped from the networks.

Pressures have dropped so low that some gas generators would not run, in addition to the freezing problems.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I had high hopes for Abbott at one point.  Now I wouldn't vote for him for Dog Catcher.

He certainly will not be in the running to be the successor to Anson Jones as our President.

[Fishrrman]

Quote from above:
"And now the WSJ chips in, noting that the dependency of Texas power generation from wind turbines went from 42% to 8%."

This is A GOOD THING.
Those unreliable wind turbines should be decommissioned and replaced...
...By reliable coal fired power plants.

Even if they don't burn that awful Texas green coal, it can still be mined up north (Wyoming?) and railroaded down and stockpiled by the tens of thousands of tons.

I'm thinking that relying too much on natural gas for electric power generation is revealing its Achilles heel, as well -- as we're seeing now. How does a generating station "stockpile" 20-30 days worth of gas...?

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Did you miss the word "contribution"?

This is not nameplate value, but the average rate expected to contribute to the grid. 

30,000 MW of thermal (coal, gas, etc) was dropped from the grid while demand climbed higher than they forecast.  All types sources had problems but the gas network nearly "crashed".  Spot prices screamed high as 5 Billion CF/D dropped from the networks.

Pressures have dropped so low that some gas generators would not run, in addition to the freezing problems.

I did not see the word contribution.

And I still an uncertain whether the total of natural gas production which 'crashed' includes the natural gas generators which backup the wind and solar power plants.

Since you are accustomed with these things, in your mind, should the reliability of a backup system run only periodically be as good as a base power system which runs most of the time?

[thackney]

I did not see the word contribution.

And I still an uncertain whether the total of natural gas production which 'crashed' includes the natural gas generators which backup the wind and solar power plants.

Since you are accustomed with these things, in your mind, should the reliability of a backup system run only periodically be as good as a base power system which runs most of the time?

Texas grid does not install generators to back up other systems.  They are all installed independently and run independently based on needs, price, etc.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Texas grid does not install generators to back up other systems.  They are all installed independently and run independently based on needs, price, etc.

Well, that means they can not be depended upon to generate electricity when the wind does not blow

[thackney]

Well, that means they can not be depended upon to generate electricity when the wind does not blow

Exactly.  There are no guarantees.

Just like the Gas Power plants cannot be depended upon to generate electricity when the gas doesn't flow to them either.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Exactly.  There are no guarantees.

Just like the Gas Power plants cannot be depended upon to generate electricity when the gas doesn't flow to them either.

But what is the likelihood of a natural gas power plant shutting down vs a wind generator?

The wind seems much more variable than the tendency of natural gas to cease flowing to a power plant.

I for one have lived in my house over 6 years and not once has the gas stopped.

Seems pretty certain to me that I get gas here to heat me up.

[thackney]

But what is the likelihood of a natural gas power plant shutting down vs a wind generator?

The wind seems much more variable than the tendency of natural gas to cease flowing to a power plant.

I for one have lived in my house over 6 years and not once has the gas stopped.

Seems pretty certain to me that I get gas here to heat me up.

I agree with all that.  And so did Ercot.  Their winter plans expected very little output from wind.  And across the state, wind output basically meet Ercot's expectations.

Ercot had much higher expectations from thermal (Nat Gas, Coal, etc).  Lost output from them was nearly 6 times greater than the expected worse case.  That was caused by both Nat Gas supply problems as well as problems due to cold at the generation facility.  Even lost one of Bay Cities Nuke units due to the cold I believe.

[thackney]

...I for one have lived in my house over 6 years and not once has the gas stopped.

Seems pretty certain to me that I get gas here to heat me up.

I know that many Texas Nat Gas pipelines declared "force majeure" on their delivery contracts this week.  The pressure drop was too great.  Plenty of pressure to feed most (not all) low pressure delivery systems but not enough pressure to deliver ~1000 psi required for the rated output at most power plants.

I've helped design those connections in the past.  A typical large Nat Gas Generation stations would have several individual generators.  The flow through the distributing system at 500 psi would not give enough pressure at all the units to run, likely only half or so.