OK, if they are only counting on 10 percent of the wind power being available (and it was about half that) how do you get to the alleged 40 percent of the energy loss being attributed to wind?
I’m not saying wind energy is all that great, but these idiots didn’t have the gas, or the nuke up and running when they needed it. Too many people who just simply hate the idea of any renewable energy (I like it, but don’t think it should be subsidized) are excusing extreme incompetence and utter failure to plan by blaming their pet hobgoblin.
I am not sure. The interviewee references an ERCOT note for the 40% number for wind.
Again, I am not aware of any of the nuke plants being down. Of course, there are only 2 in Texas to begin with.
“OK, if they are only counting on 10 percent of the wind power being available (and it was about half that) how do you get to the alleged 40 percent of the energy loss being attributed to wind?”
People keep confusing power CAPACITY vs power PRODUCTION. Capacity is measured in megawatts it’s a unit of power flowing for one SECONDs time. Power production is measured in megawatt hours as in one megawatt produced for an HOURS time period.
Ercot expects wind to be 10% of power CAPACITY in the winter time. Over a 24 hour period it’s possible and expected that wind would also be 40% of power PRODUCTION as well. How can that be. Well Texas during the winter has 80,000+ megawatts of power CAPACITY of which 10,000 of that is expected to be wind. During a 24 hour period Texas will use 45,000 megawatts per hour for peak hours and under 20,000 during not peak hours. Wind is the last to curtail generation only solar has a higher priority on the grid so as demand drops every megawatt of.Wind is used if there is surplus capacity on the grid then gas plants shut down first , then coal, nuclear is last. So as demand falls more and more of the percentage of power consumption measured in Mwh is wind due to it being the last to shut down. There are times during low demand where 100% of power consumption is wind while wind in only 15% of the total 80,000 of available capacity at that instant. The other plants are idle waiting to spin up if needed.
Texas has more than enough power CAPACITY to shut down every wind turbine and solar panel in winter that would drop the power pool from 80,000 megawatts to 65,000 or so. Typical demand is around 45,000 megawatts in winter or less what we saw was a all time record of 69,000 megawatts had the gas grid no nearly collapsed and the nuclear plant not lost 1200 megawatts Texas would have had more than enough to.cover that 69,000 even with zero wind. As it was wind helped at the critical time with 5600 megawatts.