The cold reduced wind production by more than 50%.
The wind energy is processed through the electrical grid, then onto power plants.
The plants can only produce enough power if the various types of energy are available.
Since wind production was down by more than 50%, much higher than typical shipments of natural gas and coal were required.
And demand was up substantially. Transmission for natural gas is limited by existing pipelines. In Texas; coal is commonly transported by rail but the cold also impacted rail service.
Plant operators had to scramble to obtain natural gas and coal to substitute for the lack of wind power. And natural gas companies tend to send supply to households rather than power plants.
Some plants shut down to weatherize; this should have been done as capital expenditures or scheduled maintenance. However, the sexier Green Energy and highly beneficial Federal Tax credits likely delayed these actions.
I also read that the older coal-fired plants were being decommissioning due to stringent EPA regs and would cost too much to retrofit. Also, even the newer clean coal-burning plants are running at lower than full capacity due to stiffer regulations and restrictions on mining.
Meanwhile, they allow other countries to build less restricted coal-burning plants and continue to mine.
It's almost as if our Government wants us to suffer. 🤔
In 2020, 23% of Texas' energy was from wind.
The cold reduced wind production by more than 50%.
The wind energy is processed through the electrical grid, then onto power plants.
The plants can only produce enough power if the various types of energy are available.
Since wind production was down by more than 50%, much higher than typical shipments of natural gas and coal were required.
And demand was up substantially. Transmission for natural gas is limited by existing pipelines. In Texas; coal is commonly transported by rail but the cold also impacted rail service.
Plant operators had to scramble to obtain natural gas and coal to substitute for the lack of wind power. And natural gas companies tend to send supply to households rather than power plants.
Some plants shut down to weatherize; this should have been done as capital expenditures or scheduled maintenance. However, the sexier Green Energy and highly beneficial Federal Tax credits likely delayed these actions.
I also read that the older coal-fired plants were being decommissioning due to stringent EPA regs and would cost too much to retrofit. Also, even the newer clean coal-burning plants are running at lower than full capacity due to stiffer regulations and restrictions on mining.
Meanwhile, they allow other countries to build less restricted coal-burning plants and continue to mine.
It's almost as if our Government wants us to suffer. 🤔