Author Topic: Power experts cite gas constraints as main cause of ERCOT outages, but system planning questions rem  (Read 228 times)

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Offline thackney

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Power experts cite gas constraints as main cause of ERCOT outages, but system planning questions remain
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/power-experts-cite-gas-constraints-as-main-cause-of-ercot-outages-but-syst/595255/

As rolling outages continued to plague Texas on Wednesday, power sector experts found themselves fighting against misinformation about the root of the problem.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R, were quick to blame renewable energy, particularly wind, for causing the supply constraints the region has been facing since Sunday evening.

"This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America," Abbott said in an interview on Fox News. "Texas is blessed with multiple sources of energy, such as natural gas and oil and nuclear, as well as solar and wind. But ... our wind and our solar that got shut down ... thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power [on] a statewide basis."

But data from the state's grid operator makes it clear that the majority of outages were caused by gas supply constraints corresponding to a major spike in demand. Though no power resource performed perfectly, power sector experts dismissed the idea that renewables alone were to blame for the outages.

Many questions remain, however, on whether grid operators in Texas were prepared, how generators could have better planned for such extreme weather, how they might in the future and whether future rolling blackouts can be minimized....
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Offline IsailedawayfromFR

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Wind energy was useless and must be disregarded as a reliable source of energy ever.  It is a novelty.

Natural gas generators failed not due to freezing as much as it was due to gas supply.

Why?  Because natural gas is predominately brought in as a fuel via pipeline in real time.   And real time deliveries were interrupted in a number of places..  Because, unlike historically, a large amount of the natural gas now going into the pipeline is as a by-product of oil well production rather than as gas wells.

If oil wells don't produce and get shut in due to freeze ups at the well or more importantly due to no tanker trucks getting in to keep tanks overflowing, then no gas is produced.

For decades underground natural gas storage has been used to provide quick, real time fuel when needed.  There is simply little capacity in storage to overcome the massive amount of interruption in the natural gas reaching the pipeline.

Need more gas storage via underground or LNG if we continue to depend upon natural gas power generation as a reliable resource.

Otherwise, if we want reliability we stop destroying coal plants and build more nuclear plants.
No punishment, in my opinion, is too great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country's ruin~  George Washington