Texas Sets New All-Time Wind Energy Record

[thackney]

Texas Sets New All-Time Wind Energy Record
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/texas-sets-new-all-time-wind-energy-record/
By Robert Fares on January 14, 2016

On December 20, a low-pressure weather system crossed through the Texas panhandle and created sustained wind speeds of 20 to 30 mph. The burst of wind propelled Texas to surpass its all-time record for wind energy production, with wind providing 45 percent of the state’s total electricity needs — or 13.9 gigawatts of electric power — at its peak.

That’s 13,900,000,000 watts: enough electricity to power over 230 million conventional 60 watt incandescent light bulbs, or more than 11 times the 1.21 gigawatts that Doc Brown’s time machine needed in Back to the Future. In other words, a heck of a lot of power.

The latest record is news not only because wind provided nearly half of Texas’s electricity needs, but also that it did so for so many hours in a row. The sustained winds brought on by the low-pressure front caused wind energy production to exceed 10 gigawatts for essentially the entirety of December 20.



The duration of the record is a big deal because it shows that the rest of the Texas grid can handle a whole lot of wind energy for an extended period of time without suffering instability or brownouts that some predicted. Texas was able to balance the intermittent wind because it has a lot of natural gas power plants, which can adjust their power output more quickly than coal-fired power plants. Considering this fact, it seems like a happy coincidence that market forces are transitioning the U.S. electricity system toward a mix of renewable energy and natural gas.

How Did Texas Get Here?

Texas’s latest wind energy milestone is the culmination of years of forward-looking policy and steady wind energy development.

Despite its reputation as a pro-fossil-energy, anti-renewable-energy state, Texas was the second state after Iowa to pass a renewable portfolio standard, a policy which requires a certain amount of electricity come from renewable sources. Furthermore, Texas invested billions in high-voltage power lines linking Texas cities to windy West Texas way back in 2008. The so-called “Competitive Renewable Energy Zones” (CREZ) wind energy transmission project is one of the key reasons Texas calls itself the national leader in wind energy today, with over double the wind generation capacity of any other state....

[thackney]

[Joe Wooten]

What will happen to all that wind generation when the federal 3 cents per KWh subsidy is taken away? I bet all the cronies who built those windfarms will walk away from them.

[thackney]

What will happen to all that wind generation when the federal 3 cents per KWh subsidy is taken away? I bet all the cronies who built those windfarms will walk away from them.

...the production tax creditis 2.3¢ a KWh.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/436228/wind-energy-subsidies-billions-and-billions-your-tax-dollars

...the total value of the subsidies given to the biggest players in the U.S. wind industry is now $176 billion. That sum includes all local, state, and federal subsidies as well as federal loans and loan guarantees received by companies on the American Wind Energy Association’s board of directors since 2000. (Most of the federal grants have been awarded since 2007.) Of the $176 billion provided to the wind-energy sector, $2.9 billion came from local and state governments; $9.4 billion came from federal grants and tax credits; and $163.9 billion was provided in the form of federal loans or loan guarantees....

[uglybiker]

I should hope so! they've put up enough of the g-d- things!

When I go to visit family in Texas I come in on I-40 and there is a sixty mile stretch just west of Amarillo that is a solid line of windmills. Then, when I cut south on 287 towards Witchita  Falls, there's another stretch almost as big. And there's more of 'em every time I pass through!

[Cripplecreek]

What will happen to all that wind generation when the federal 3 cents per KWh subsidy is taken away? I bet all the cronies who built those windfarms will walk away from them.

My concern is more with the cost of maintenance and replacement.

Seems that 25 years is an optimistic estimate for the service life of a wind turbine. With hydro you're looking at a service life of 75 years or more without major overhaul. Turbines fired by coal or gas also have comparably long service lives. I suspect the longevity of hydro, gas,, coal fired turbines is due to the fact that they run at a very steady controlled rate while wind is wildly variable.

[thackney]

I suspect the longevity of hydro, gas,, coal fired turbines is due to the fact that they run at a very steady controlled rate while wind is wildly variable.

Natural Gas Power Turbines are often used as Peaking units, starting and stopping multiple times a day if needed, ramping up and down with the power demand.

[Bigun]

IF we could get the government out of the way long enough for the marketplace to work its magic we would have the safest, most efficient, and most secure energy grid possible!  But I don't see that happening anytime soon!

[Cripplecreek]

Natural Gas Power Turbines are often used as Peaking units, starting and stopping multiple times a day if needed, ramping up and down with the power demand.

I worked in a sawmill that produced their own electricity. One of their turbines was for daytime use only.

[thackney]

My concern is more with the cost of maintenance and replacement.

Seems that 25 years is an optimistic estimate for the service life of a wind turbine. With hydro you're looking at a service life of 75 years or more without major overhaul. Turbines fired by coal or gas also have comparably long service lives....

How did you determine the retirement age of 25 for wind?

[Cripplecreek]

How did you determine the retirement age of 25 for wind?

Just a remembered feasibility study comparison when they were debating refitting two Huron River dams in Ann Arbor. I haven't really thought about it for a few years since the project appeared to die when kayaking greenies demanded that an artificial whitewater feature be included.

(Argo and Geddes dams)

[Joe Wooten]

...the production tax creditis 2.3¢ a KWh.

It should be 0. Only wind and solar get direct production subsidies. A total waste of taxpayer money, especially when wind companies use part of the subsidy to pay users to take their electricity and still make a profit.

[thackney]

It should be 0. Only wind and solar get direct production subsidies. A total waste of taxpayer money, especially when wind companies use part of the subsidy to pay users to take their electricity and still make a profit.

Agreed

[Bigun]

Agreed

The government should stay the hell out of the marketplace entirely!  It works FAR better when they do that!

[Hondo69]

I can go on and on complaining about Rick Perry but have to give credit where credit is due.  He had a strong hand in looking towards the future and what role wind energy would play.

And good old T-Boone was right there by his side, each ensuring the proper wheels were greased along the way.  But my hunch is old T-Boone had his eyes on much more than just wind energy when setting up his various energy consortiums.  He's sitting in the cat bird's seat when the water wars break out in West Texas.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I can go on and on complaining about Rick Perry but have to give credit where credit is due.  He had a strong hand in looking towards the future and what role wind energy would play.

Are you possibly suggesting you endorse the taking of taxpayer money to setup uneconomic enterprises like wind power?

Ever see the list of manufacturers of wind turbines?  Notice how many are US.  China has the largest.

Small Wind Turbines Manufacturers[edit]

Hi-VAWT wind turbine installation in Taiwan
Bergey (USA)
Britwind (United Kingdom)
C&F Green Energy (Ireland)
Endurance (Canada)
Enessere (Italy)
Ennera (Spain)
Gaia-Wind (United Kingdom)
Ghrepower (China)
Hi-VAWT (Taiwan)
Kingspan (United Kingdom)
Pika Energy (USA)
RIAMWIND (Japan)
quietrevolution (United Kingdom)
Southwest (USA) - closed February 20, 2013
TUGE Energia (Estonia)
Urban Green Energy (USA)
Windspot (Spain)
XZERES (USA)
Zephyr (Japan)
Ghrepower (Italy)

Large Wind Turbines Manufacturers[edit]

Multibrid 5000 Prototype, north of Bremerhaven (Germany)

Wakamatsu wind farm, Kitakyushu (Japan)

General Electric Wind turbines in Solano County, California (USA)
Current manufacturers:
Acciona Windpower (Spain) - merged with Nordex SE since 2016
Alstom Wind (Spain) - subsidiary of General Electric since 2014
China Guodian Corporation (China) - turbine brand United Wind Power
Clipper Windpower (USA)
CNR (China)
CSIC (Chongqing) HZ Wind Power (China)
DeWind (Germany/USA) - subsidiary of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (South Korea)
Doosan (South Korea)
DSTN (DSME Trenton) (Canada)
Elecon Engineering (India)
Enercon (Germany)
Envision Energy (China)
Gamesa (Spain) (previously known as Gamesa Eólica)
General Electric (USA)
Goldwind (China)
Hanjin (South Korea)
Hitachi (Japan) - acquired the wind turbine business of Fuji Heavy Industries in 2012[1]
Hyosung (South Korea)
Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
Japan Steel Works (Japan)
Končar (Croatia)
Leitner Group (Italy)
Mapna (Iran)
Ming Yang (China)
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan)
Nordex SE (Germany)
Northern Power Systems (USA)
PacWind (USA)
Raum Energy Inc. (Canada)
RRB Energy Limited (India)
Samsung Heavy Industries (South Korea)
SANY (China)
Senvion (Germany)
Shanghai Electric (China) (SEwind)
Siemens Wind Power (Germany/Denmark)
Sinovel (China)
STX Windpower (South Korea / The Netherlands)
Suzlon (India)
TECO (Taiwan)
Unison (Republic of Korea)
Vergnet (France)
Vestas (Denmark) - the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines[2]
WEG (Brasil)
Windflow (New Zealand)
XEMC (China)
Past manufacturers:
Ecotècnia (Spain) - acquired by Alstom Wind (Later acquired by General Electric, now GE Power Conversion)
Enron Wind (now defunct) - wind-turbine manufacturing assets bought by General Electric in 2002
Fuji Heavy Industries (Japan) - the wind turbine business was acquired by Hitachi in 2012
NEG Micon - now part of Vestas
Nordic Windpower (USA) - bankrupted in 2012
Scanwind (Norway) - bought by General Electric in 2009
Schuler (Germany)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wind_turbine_manufacturers

[Hondo69]

Are you possibly suggesting you endorse the taking of taxpayer money to setup uneconomic enterprises like wind power?

No, I personally draw the line when those magic words "taxpayer money" come into play.  Remove those magic words and I say, "have at it". 

Wind power, like anything energy related, is a double edged sword.  Or a 60 edged sword depending upon how you look at it all.  In a perfect world we could view any energy source for what it is, including all it's pro's and con's.  Solar is what it is, biofuels, wind, etc.  At the end of the day they all come down to just one thing - BTU's.  And if we could keep emotion out of the picture and just examine them in their stark cold reality we'd be way ahead of the game.

But, of course, that has always been impossible when it comes to energy.  It would be the very opposite of viewing things in stark cold reality.

So given the ugly climate of energy, pardon the pun, we have to deal with reality.  And in this case we more or less got about the best that could be expected.  For example, you can build all the wind farms you want in West Texas but they do you zero amount of good without transmission lines.  My neighbor, in charge of constructing those very transmission lines for LCRA, had a great deal of interesting information to share about it all - the good, the bad and the ugly.

Once the entire system was constructed you can begin moving energy.  So on one hand you have all the machinations involved with setting up the entire system, and on the other you have what happens after that - transmitting energy.  And now you get into 10 kinds of ugly with wholesale energy, city politics, gouging customers, and the whole nine yards.

Taxpayer money is always involved whether you view it from the start of the chain or the end of the line - our energy bills that come in the mail.  Remove politicians from the equation and our energy would be cheap, cheap, cheap.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

In a perfect world we could view any energy source for what it is, including all it's pro's and con's.  Solar is what it is, biofuels, wind, etc.  At the end of the day they all come down to just one thing - BTU's.  And if we could keep emotion out of the picture and just examine them in their stark cold reality we'd be way ahead of the game.

Lot more than just BTUs involved.  One has to have a READY source of supply if one is dependent upon power generation.

Wind is a poor choice for sustainable power generation.  The wind just don't always blow.

Because of this, when one puts in a wind power generating station, one has to have to build a two-power system.  Wind power needs a backup generator not dependent upon wind.  Guess what is typically is?  Natural gas.

Yep, we are building natural gas generators all over the place as numerous as wind generators, but natural gas is rarely used.

One will not read of this normally, as when those wind proponents thump the wind power drum, they somehow neglect to mention the cost and expense of maintaining the gas generator.

No wind power should ever be built with subsidies.  It makes not commercial sense except in very rare cases.

The cannot stand on their own.

[Hondo69]

Lot more than just BTUs involved.  One has to have a READY source of supply if one is dependent upon power generation.

Wind is a poor choice for sustainable power generation.  The wind just don't always blow.

Because of this, when one puts in a wind power generating station, one has to have to build a two-power system.  Wind power needs a backup generator not dependent upon wind.  Guess what is typically is?  Natural gas.

Yep, we are building natural gas generators all over the place as numerous as wind generators, but natural gas is rarely used.

One will not read of this normally, as when those wind proponents thump the wind power drum, they somehow neglect to mention the cost and expense of maintaining the gas generator.

No wind power should ever be built with subsidies.  It makes not commercial sense except in very rare cases.

The cannot stand on their own.

   Good points being made here - nice job.

When comparing energy sources A vs B vs C the most convenient method is BTU's.  A drum full of bio diesel vs a drum full of ethanol vs a drum full of wind electricity.  Of course wind energy doesn't actually come in drums making the calculations a bit tricky, but still it can be done.

As mentioned above, the next step is providing a "ready" source of energy when the grid demands it.  The demands at 4:00 AM are lower than demands at 4:00 PM for obvious reasons.  And you can't just crank up wind energy on demand or flip the switch on a coal fired plant and have instant energy.  Just doesn't work that way.  So those who operate the grid are faced with a never ending juggling act to deliver the Goldilocks amount of energy, just the right amount.

It would help the situation tremendously if we had a few giant batteries lying around for storing excess energy.  If they existed we could just flip a switch and have access to energy as needed.  They would provide the badly needed stabilizer for the grid to temper high and low demand.  In the past several attempts have been made to store energy both here in the U.S. and overseas.  Salt domes, for example, have been identified as a potential means of storing energy but these experiments just haven't panned out yet.  Maybe we can talk Elon Musk into stringing together 1,000 Teslas for just such a purpose.

Which brings us to natural gas as sort of a half measure between giant storage batteries and a coal fired plant.  It's not quite instant energy on demand but natural gas does bring us a step closer.  It takes about a day to fire up a coal fire plant but a natural gas generator can be brought online in a fraction of that time.  And it has other advantages as well, primarily that we are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.

So at the end of the day every type of energy source has its pro's and con's.  The sun doesn't shine during the day, the wind doesn't always blow, etc.  The world would be a better place if we could remove emotion from the big picture and just evaluate each energy source for exactly what they are, warts and all.

But we can't remove emotion from the equation and are stuck with one giant freak out.  We have more energy available at our fingertips that we could possibly ever use, we just can't get out of our own way. 

 

[Hondo69]

An interesting side note . . .

Our national grid is divided into 3 separate sections.  We have an East section and West section divided more or less by the Mississippi.  Then we have Texas making up its own 3rd grid.

Each grid speaks it's own "language".  Let's say one speaks French, another English, and the last Spanish.  In order for each grid to "speak" to each other we need a translator, and that's where things get tricky.

If Texas wants to send electricity to California, for example, it's not as easy as flipping a switch.  That electricity has to go through a translator first.  Over the years this has caused more than its share of problems and lawsuits.  Politicians get involved which only makes matters worse.  Then toss in several layers of regulators and you end up with a ball of confusion wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

There are federal regulators which oversee the national grid as a whole.  Then there are other regulators which are supposedly independent, sort of a private consortium that act more or less like referees (who make their own rules) to keep the competing grids in check.  In essence you have a turf war that remains in a constant state of conflict.

Texas rolls out a new lawsuit on a regular basis and these cases always end up before a federal judge.  Federal judges, being federal, mumble something about the greater good and always rule against Texas.  This doesn't sit well here in Texas and you hear talk of telling the regulators they can go straight to hell.  Which, depending upon whom you ask, they have every right to do.

Not long ago there were rumors that Texas energy producers were willing to simply shut off the spigot.  California, the regulators, and all the other interlopers can just suffer and stew in their own juices.  Let them try that on for size for a few months, the thinking went, and odds are their blurry vision would suddenly clear up.

Now we have a new Energy Secretary and guess who that might be?

[IsailedawayfromFR]

  As mentioned above, the next step is providing a "ready" source of energy when the grid demands it.  The demands at 4:00 AM are lower than demands at 4:00 PM for obvious reasons.  And you can't just crank up wind energy on demand or flip the switch on a coal fired plant and have instant energy.  Just doesn't work that way.  So those who operate the grid are faced with a never ending juggling act to deliver the Goldilocks amount of energy, just the right amount.

It would help the situation tremendously if we had a few giant batteries lying around for storing excess energy.  If they existed we could just flip a switch and have access to energy as needed.  They would provide the badly needed stabilizer for the grid to temper high and low demand.  In the past several attempts have been made to store energy both here in the U.S. and overseas.  Salt domes, for example, have been identified as a potential means of storing energy but these experiments just haven't panned out yet.  Maybe we can talk Elon Musk into stringing together 1,000 Teslas for just such a purpose..

@thackney has talked at length about the issue of storage.  His take is in the usage of water as the way to store up a lot of energy although am unsure how rapidly that can occur.

Which brings us to natural gas as sort of a half measure between giant storage batteries and a coal fired plant.  It's not quite instant energy on demand but natural gas does bring us a step closer.  It takes about a day to fire up a coal fire plant but a natural gas generator can be brought online in a fraction of that time.  And it has other advantages as well, primarily that we are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.

When in industry as a petroleum engineer, I used to delve some into the many storage places for natural gas in this country.  Lots of capacity can be made in a very short time from them.  The one I was most familiar with could store 7 bcf and if gas is needed could be emptied in 6 days at 1 bcfd(1bcf remained in it at all times).  From only one well.  Once again, thackney knows the numbers better

So at the end of the day every type of energy source has its pro's and con's.  The sun doesn't shine during the day, the wind doesn't always blow, etc.  The world would be a better place if we could remove emotion from the big picture and just evaluate each energy source for exactly what they are, warts and all.

But we can't remove emotion from the equation and are stuck with one giant freak out.  We have more energy available at our fingertips that we could possibly ever use, we just can't get out of our own way.

I agree wholeheartedly with that statement.  God blessed us with an abundance.  Many generations will go by until I think we have to worry all that much on energy.

Thanks for the message.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

An interesting side note . . .

Our national grid is divided into 3 separate sections.  We have an East section and West section divided more or less by the Mississippi.  Then we have Texas making up its own 3rd grid.

Each grid speaks it's own "language".  Let's say one speaks French, another English, and the last Spanish.  In order for each grid to "speak" to each other we need a translator, and that's where things get tricky.

If Texas wants to send electricity to California, for example, it's not as easy as flipping a switch.  That electricity has to go through a translator first.  Over the years this has caused more than its share of problems and lawsuits.  Politicians get involved which only makes matters worse.  Then toss in several layers of regulators and you end up with a ball of confusion wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

There are federal regulators which oversee the national grid as a whole.  Then there are other regulators which are supposedly independent, sort of a private consortium that act more or less like referees (who make their own rules) to keep the competing grids in check.  In essence you have a turf war that remains in a constant state of conflict.

Texas rolls out a new lawsuit on a regular basis and these cases always end up before a federal judge.  Federal judges, being federal, mumble something about the greater good and always rule against Texas.  This doesn't sit well here in Texas and you hear talk of telling the regulators they can go straight to hell.  Which, depending upon whom you ask, they have every right to do.

Not long ago there were rumors that Texas energy producers were willing to simply shut off the spigot.  California, the regulators, and all the other interlopers can just suffer and stew in their own juices.  Let them try that on for size for a few months, the thinking went, and odds are their blurry vision would suddenly clear up.

Now we have a new Energy Secretary and guess who that might be?

I worked in the 70s when the feds were freaking out on running out of natural gas and they clamped a ceiling on natural gas prices.  Except they could not control those prices for gas that was produced and used in Texas, so the only affected prices were those dedicated to going out of state.  It limited the price to 59 cents per mcf.

Meanwhile, the intrastate gas market became red-hot and gas shot up to over $2/mcf.

So we Texans, the producers of the gas, had to pay exhorbitant prices for the product yet furnished it to other states at a fraction of the price.

Am still sore at the manipulation Carter and his cronies made on us, and we have not been paid back since.

[Joe Wooten]

I worked in the 70s when the feds were freaking out on running out of natural gas and they clamped a ceiling on natural gas prices.  Except they could not control those prices for gas that was produced and used in Texas, so the only affected prices were those dedicated to going out of state.  It limited the price to 59 cents per mcf.

Meanwhile, the intrastate gas market became red-hot and gas shot up to over $2/mcf.

So we Texans, the producers of the gas, had to pay exhorbitant prices for the product yet furnished it to other states at a fraction of the price.

Am still sore at the manipulation Carter and his cronies made on us, and we have not been paid back since.

I started working for Texas Electric at the Morgan Creek gas-fired plant back in1979. I remember gas prices in state were a cause of a lot of pain, but Texas Electric, Dallas Power and Light, and Texas Power and light were the beneficiaries of a far-sighted Texas electric president back in the 1950's and 1960's who in 1962 signed a 30 year contract for gas at the unheard of price of 30 cents per MCF, I think that was twice or better the going rate at the time. He knew that with exploration for gas at a standstill, the price would eventually start going up and his prediction was the mid-1970s for this to happen. The gas companies were more than happy to oblige him at the time. However, in 1978 we were now paying an eighth of what the going price was, and they tried to break the contract, not set to expire until around 1990. Lawsuits were filed, and on one in federal court, the Carter admin tried to intervene on the side of the gas companies. They failed.

They also tried to use this as an excuse to put ERCOT under FERC control. They failed again. The new DOE then tried to get another utility with interstate ties to send electricity bought from Texas Electric across state lines into Oklahoma. TESCO got wind of this and stationed a line crew near the switchyard that would close the tie to do this, with orders to cut the lines as soon as they saw the breaker for the line to Oklahoma close. It did, and they cut the lines. This led to another lawsuit which the Carter admin tried to intervene. It failed again.

[geronl]

Perry spent billions of OPM to make this happen and should not be forgiven.

[guitar4jesus]