Frozen Wind Farms Are Just a Small Piece of Texas's Power Woes

[DonViejo]

By Will Wade, Naureen S Malik, and Brian Eckhouse

February 15, 2021, 7:29 PM EST Updated on February 16, 2021, 11:28 AM EST

Don’t point too many fingers at Texas wind turbines, because they’re not the main reason broad swaths of the state have been plunged into darkness.

While ice has forced some turbines to shut down just as a brutal cold wave drives record electricity demand, that’s been the least significant factor in the blackouts, according to Dan Woodfin, a senior director for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid.

The main factors: Frozen instruments at natural gas, coal and even nuclear facilities, as well as limited supplies of natural gas, he said. “Natural gas pressure” in particular is one reason power is coming back slower than expected Tuesday, added Woodfin.

“We’ve had some issues with pretty much every kind of generating capacity in the course of this multi-day event,” he said.

more
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-16/frozen-wind-farms-were-just-a-small-piece-of-texas-s-power-woes

[TwilightZone]

1. As noted, we're actually at expected capacity for wind in the winter

even with the frozen turbines.

It's been a freaking mess. About 1.2 million without power since around 2:00AM Monday morning, just with one provider (though, the largest), Oncor. We've had power for about an hour today (none yesterday after 2AM) but could rotate out at any time. And no water.

[jpak]

2. Major K&R

Yup

[KY_EnviroGuy]

3. Most likely caused by cost-cutting and complacency with preventative maintenance.

Any plant manager in a chemical plant, paper mill or power plant that doesn't want his facility shut down in early winter will implement and enforce a preventative maintenance plan that's carried out late fall prior to freezing weather. Folks up north and in high elevations take this problem very seriously.

Plant systems subject to freezing are protected with electric or steam heat-tracing and then insulated. Many times, these systems are damaged by outage and other maintenance activities during the year but don't get fixed right away. If these systems are not inspected and tested prior to the first cold weather, an entire plant can be brought to its knees by one frozen pipe.

Speaking as one who has witnessed this situation play out for the good and for the terribly bad many times.

Industrial systems in the USA just simply are not maintained as well as they were forty or fifty years ago due to cost cutting (particularly with regard to preventative maintenance) and I suspect these cold weather problems are indicators of that fact.

KY

[hunter]

4. Exactly this.

They laid off the guy they were paying to worry about such things. All he did was complain. Such a drag.

Everyone knows if you simply BELIEVE strenuously enough that BELIEF becomes reality. That's what made the U.S.A. GREAT!