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Thread: Wind power fails in Texas

  1. #1

    Wind power fails in Texas

    https://www.statesman.com/story/news...on/4483230001/

    Frozen wind turbines hamper Texas power output, state's electric grid operator says
    #RESIST

  2. #2
    Allowing 23% of your capacity to be fulfilled by an unreliable method is idiocy. Using them as "backup" to throttled down conventional plants and/or selling the excess on the open market is one thing, but to make them mission critical is just dumb on an epic level. Hopefully the residents of TX will force a change.

    My state is on the same path unfortunately, just not quite as far down it. We also have the threat of rolling blackouts and even a possible natural gas shortage due to the freezing of wells. The NG issue is very concerning. If we lose that widespread we are in a world of hurt. If I lose power my backup generator will take over so no biggie. But if I lose power after losing my gas I'm totally hosed since the backup runs on NG.

    I can't get through the next three days or so soon enough.

  3. #3
    I'm wondering what the difference is between the turbines in Texas and those in Nebraska and Kansas?

    I've never seen that as a reported problem up here and we routinely get freezing rain and snow that snap power lines, etc.

    I wonder if they have different versions based on expected weather.

    There's a big old Siemens plant right here in town, I might be able to ask someone.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter
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    There was a time, probably a decade ago, when I was really interested in getting into alternative energy locally; I'd have been in on the ground floor. I attended a state-level conference on it which discussed each of the types in turn and then focused on the positives and negatives of each. My fellow attendees represented many local gov'ts as well as installers; the conference wasn't geared towards end purchasers.

    The aging infrastructure of our current power system and the losses inherent in moving large amounts of power hundreds of miles from the source mean that there *is* a place for locally-produced, grid-tied power in some / many locations. Type depends on geography and local weather.

    A point that was made over and over by the presenters was that alternative energy sources required traditional power plant backups to cover demand overruns, whether caused by the sun being behind a cloud, the wind not blowing, or what have you.

    I would still like to one day have a grid-tied PV system in my home. Possibly with battery backup and the ability to go off-grid if necessary. The wind doesn't blow enough here to have a turbine make any sense and my stream isn't strong enough for micro-hydro.

    I believed then, and still believe now, that one of the biggest changes in my lifetime will be the switching of energy sources away from fossil fuels. I'm not debating right or wrong, I'm just saying that much like a lot of fortunes were made and lost in coal and then in oil, a lot will also be made and lost in alternative energies. It's the future, whether we like it or not, and it's nearly here.

    I hope that things like what's happening in TX right now will be learned from and our practices modified in whatever form that may need to take.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Welder View Post
    A point that was made over and over by the presenters was that alternative energy sources required traditional power plant backups...
    ^^^This has not changed one iota.

    There are so many ways we can improve/update/secure our grids, but I'm quite the skeptic that logic and reason will win out. The fact is that fossil fuels are 100% in our future for many many more years to come unless we get over our aversion to nuclear.

  6. #6
    Four String Fumbler Joe in PNG's Avatar
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    The problem with "green" energy is that much is being pushed by people who have no clue about energy production.

    Then again, this is true of most things being pushed by the media.
    "You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
    "I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI

  7. #7
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Lehr View Post
    I'm wondering what the difference is between the turbines in Texas and those in Nebraska and Kansas?

    I've never seen that as a reported problem up here and we routinely get freezing rain and snow that snap power lines, etc.

    I wonder if they have different versions based on expected weather.

    There's a big old Siemens plant right here in town, I might be able to ask someone.
    I don't know nothin' about nothin', but we've got plenty of windmills in the northern part of the state and they are certainly no stranger to snow and ice. It makes me figure there must be a 'winter proof' version and the TX ones aren't. Kind of like when Atlanta gets a minor amount of snow it's a much bigger mess then here because they aren't prepared to deal with it.
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  8. #8
    Tactical Nobody Guerrero's Avatar
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    "The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so."
    ― Ennius

  9. #9
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    #RESIST

  10. #10
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Guerrero View Post
    He had me right up until the last bit about Chicago residents freezing...

    Since 66% of power (including the power that charged this phone and is running this internet modem) in Illinois comes from nuclear.

    Chicago only has one renewable power station, the solar station in the Pullman District. Which the city already recognizes is dramatically insufficient for even that neighborhood.

    Pritzker is talking a big game of shutting down IL Nuke plants, but the legislators already know that's impossible.

    --

    Really don't get Americans aversions to nuclear power. Today the plants are so efficient and produce a fraction of the waste they did in the past...

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