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Texas’ Wind Power Generation Cut In Half Due To Winter Storm
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2021 Feb 15, 2:10pm 5,072 views 98 comments
« First « Previous Comments 12 - 51 of 98 Next » Last » Search these comments
12
Bd6r
2021 Feb 15, 6:40pm
Bd6r
2021 Feb 15, 6:40pm
Booger says
I suspect it is freezing rain that covers turbines and they can not run.
BTW, how the fuck does a windmill freeze?
Did they use 20W-50 instead of synthetic 5W-30, or something?
I suspect it is freezing rain that covers turbines and they can not run.
13
RWSGFY
2021 Feb 15, 6:51pm
RWSGFY
2021 Feb 15, 6:51pm
Booger says
Ice on the blades make them inefficient, cause vibration due to disbalance, etc. The control software shuts them down then to prevent serious damage.
BTW, how the fuck does a windmill freeze?
Ice on the blades make them inefficient, cause vibration due to disbalance, etc. The control software shuts them down then to prevent serious damage.
14
RWSGFY
2021 Feb 15, 6:54pm
RWSGFY
2021 Feb 15, 6:54pm
Rb6d says
We have friends in Austin who are affected by this outage. They also have gas heater but theirs doesn't run w/o grid electricity. Good thing they also have a gas fireplace.
Ironically, the roof of their house is completely covered with solar panels.
just_passing_through saysI flew out to San Antonio to visit my parents in this shit. We're snowed in and haven't had power since 2AM. It's cold as fuck in this house. Almost no cell signal. I can read a few patnet pages an hour.
we are fine. I drove around for a while today, eerily white and nearly no cars. We have heating by gas, so we don't get hit by "renewable" failures.
We have friends in Austin who are affected by this outage. They also have gas heater but theirs doesn't run w/o grid electricity. Good thing they also have a gas fireplace.
Ironically, the roof of their house is completely covered with solar panels.
15
richwicks
2021 Feb 15, 7:40pm
richwicks
2021 Feb 15, 7:40pm
FuckCCP89 says
Generators costs a couple hundred bucks, $1000 if you want to get a good one.
They may need the help of an electrician to show them how to connect it to the mains of the house, and to disconnect the house from the grid.
It's emergency use only. Useful for running the heater, maybe some lights. Wouldn't recommend it for a stove, for a washer/dryer, or a hot water heater - assuming any of them are electric.
It's stupid not to have one.
Also, a gas fireplace won't necessarily prevent pipes from freezing. Depends on how stupidly the home was built, and there's some stupidly built homes today.
We have friends in Austin who are affected by this outage. They also have gas heater but theirs doesn't run w/o grid electricity. Good thing they also have a gas fireplace.
Generators costs a couple hundred bucks, $1000 if you want to get a good one.
They may need the help of an electrician to show them how to connect it to the mains of the house, and to disconnect the house from the grid.
It's emergency use only. Useful for running the heater, maybe some lights. Wouldn't recommend it for a stove, for a washer/dryer, or a hot water heater - assuming any of them are electric.
It's stupid not to have one.
Also, a gas fireplace won't necessarily prevent pipes from freezing. Depends on how stupidly the home was built, and there's some stupidly built homes today.
16
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 15, 7:41pm
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 15, 7:41pm
richwicks says
I'm pretty sure these are out of stock everywhere by now. It's like shopping for a generator during CA fire season - good luck with that.
Generators costs a couple hundred bucks, $1000 if you want to get a good one.
I'm pretty sure these are out of stock everywhere by now. It's like shopping for a generator during CA fire season - good luck with that.
17
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 15, 7:42pm
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 15, 7:42pm
richwicks says
This one is easy: all you need to do is to constantly have water running through at least one faucet.
Also, a gas fireplace won't necessarily prevent pipes from freezing.
This one is easy: all you need to do is to constantly have water running through at least one faucet.
18
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 15, 7:52pm
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 15, 7:52pm
Eric Holder says
We have had several running. It got down to 9F.
richwicks saysAlso, a gas fireplace won't necessarily prevent pipes from freezing.
This one is easy: all you need to do is to constantly have water running through at least one faucet.
We have had several running. It got down to 9F.
19
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 15, 7:53pm
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 15, 7:53pm
Not only that but the pumps ar the water plant kept shutting off so we'd lose all water pressure. A few times so far...
20
richwicks
2021 Feb 15, 8:18pm
richwicks
2021 Feb 15, 8:18pm
just_passing_through says
You can get pipe insulation, if it's exposed. It's just a tube of foam that has a pipe sized hole cut through it, and it cut lengthwise down. They are normally used on hot water lines, but covering the cold water lines keeps the water cold as well - and prevents easy freezing.
In an emergency, we'd have blown out the pipes with an air compressor - basically remove all the water. We can turn off each line individually if needed (and we never needed).
My parents have a summer cabin (utterly unlivable in the winter) and so I'm well used to that. We use compressed air to blow all the water out in fall, and let it freeze over winter. Sewer lines - we empty the toilet tanks, place anti-freeze in the taps of the sinks, shower, and toilet. It gets below -40F where even the anti-freeze will gel, but it doesn't freeze hard so no threat of any of the sewer lines breaking.
Homes are built like shit today though. Annoys me to no end to see a million dollar "house" being put up in Silly Con Valley made out of paper mache and spit. My father owned a building supplies business when I was a kid. It's not that the people building these homes don't know what they are doing, it's that the people that are buying them don't know what they are doing. A million dollar home here, would fetch at most $75K where I grew up and people are like "well the value is in the LAND!" - well if you're going to spend a million dollars on land, at least put something on it that isn't a pile of garbage.
Not only that but the pumps ar the water plant kept shutting off so we'd lose all water pressure. A few times so far...
You can get pipe insulation, if it's exposed. It's just a tube of foam that has a pipe sized hole cut through it, and it cut lengthwise down. They are normally used on hot water lines, but covering the cold water lines keeps the water cold as well - and prevents easy freezing.
In an emergency, we'd have blown out the pipes with an air compressor - basically remove all the water. We can turn off each line individually if needed (and we never needed).
My parents have a summer cabin (utterly unlivable in the winter) and so I'm well used to that. We use compressed air to blow all the water out in fall, and let it freeze over winter. Sewer lines - we empty the toilet tanks, place anti-freeze in the taps of the sinks, shower, and toilet. It gets below -40F where even the anti-freeze will gel, but it doesn't freeze hard so no threat of any of the sewer lines breaking.
Homes are built like shit today though. Annoys me to no end to see a million dollar "house" being put up in Silly Con Valley made out of paper mache and spit. My father owned a building supplies business when I was a kid. It's not that the people building these homes don't know what they are doing, it's that the people that are buying them don't know what they are doing. A million dollar home here, would fetch at most $75K where I grew up and people are like "well the value is in the LAND!" - well if you're going to spend a million dollars on land, at least put something on it that isn't a pile of garbage.
22
zzyzzx
2021 Feb 16, 9:43am
zzyzzx
2021 Feb 16, 9:43am
Eric Holder says
Water is out in some places in Texas.
This one is easy: all you need to do is to constantly have water running through at least one faucet.
Water is out in some places in Texas.
23
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 16, 9:58am
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 16, 9:58am
zzyzzx says
This is starting to look like a perfect clusterfuck.
Eric Holder saysThis one is easy: all you need to do is to constantly have water running through at least one faucet.
Water is out in some places in Texas.
This is starting to look like a perfect clusterfuck.
24
HeadSet
2021 Feb 16, 11:22am
HeadSet
2021 Feb 16, 11:22am
FuckCCP89 says
Aircraft have "anti-ice" heating wires built into the leading edge of wings. Seems the same concept could be used for wind turbines in cold climates. Just tap a little of that generated electricity to heat the blades.
Booger saysBTW, how the fuck does a windmill freeze?
Ice on the blades make them inefficient, cause vibration due to disbalance, etc. The control software shuts them down then to prevent serious damage.
Aircraft have "anti-ice" heating wires built into the leading edge of wings. Seems the same concept could be used for wind turbines in cold climates. Just tap a little of that generated electricity to heat the blades.
25
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 16, 11:28am
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 16, 11:28am
HeadSet says
I thought aircraft used some kind of de-icing liquid.
Aircraft have "anti-ice" heating wires built into the leading edge of wings.
I thought aircraft used some kind of de-icing liquid.
26
zzyzzx
2021 Feb 16, 11:37am
zzyzzx
2021 Feb 16, 11:37am
HeadSet says
Retrofits are available. I wonder if something like a teflon coating would have made a difference.
Aircraft have "anti-ice" heating wires built into the leading edge of wings.
Retrofits are available. I wonder if something like a teflon coating would have made a difference.
27
HeadSet
2021 Feb 16, 11:40am
HeadSet
2021 Feb 16, 11:40am
Eric Holder says
A de-icing liquid is used to hose down the plane will still on the ground prior to takeoff. In flight, the planes have anti-ice heat or anti ice boots that inflate and throw the ice off.
I thought aircraft used some kind of de-icing liquid.
A de-icing liquid is used to hose down the plane will still on the ground prior to takeoff. In flight, the planes have anti-ice heat or anti ice boots that inflate and throw the ice off.
28
MAGA
2021 Feb 16, 12:46pm
MAGA
2021 Feb 16, 12:46pm
I'm glad that San Antonio invested (40%) in nuclear power. I hope they build South-Texas-3 and South-Texas-4 as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Texas_Nuclear_Generating_Station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Texas_Nuclear_Generating_Station
30
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 16, 3:46pm
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 16, 3:46pm
zzyzzx says
Yup still no water. I've been melting snow on the grill to flush toilets
Eric Holder saysThis one is easy: all you need to do is to constantly have water running through at least one faucet.
Water is out in some places in Texas.
Yup still no water. I've been melting snow on the grill to flush toilets
33
NDrLoR
2021 Feb 16, 5:31pm
NDrLoR
2021 Feb 16, 5:31pm
Everything still on in Waco--I have a year old gas furnace that is keeping the house at a constant 73 deg, running 24/7. I usually shut it off overnight, but not this time. I just hope if we have freezing rain tomorrow it won't bring down power lines.
34
Booger
2021 Feb 16, 5:42pm
Booger
2021 Feb 16, 5:42pm
NDrLoR says
Yeah, I run my furnace more if I think that there might be a strong induced electricity outage.
I have a year old gas furnace that is keeping the house at a constant 73 deg, running 24/7. I usually shut it off overnight, but not this time. I just hope if we have freezing rain tomorrow it won't bring down power lines.
Yeah, I run my furnace more if I think that there might be a strong induced electricity outage.
36
RC2006
2021 Feb 16, 7:10pm
RC2006
2021 Feb 16, 7:10pm
Friends in Texas have water and power out they are burning firewood and running oven to keep house in 50s.
37
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 16, 8:19pm
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 16, 8:19pm
"We can live with some intermittency and rationing—at least until batteries and other forms of energy storage are up and running everywhere....we don’t need the entire residential third of U.S. electricity consumption to run off lithium or to operate seamlessly. We don’t need Nest or permanent telecommuting. For a while, let’s eat a cold dinner here and there. Continuity costs too much."
https://patrick.net/post/1335554/2020-10-12-to-save-the-climate-give-up-the-demand-for-constant-electricity
https://patrick.net/post/1335554/2020-10-12-to-save-the-climate-give-up-the-demand-for-constant-electricity
38
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 16, 9:26pm
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 16, 9:26pm
Yeah, fuck off and wear a sweater eh asshat (@bostonreview)?
39
Ceffer
2021 Feb 16, 10:22pm
Ceffer
2021 Feb 16, 10:22pm
Does this mean everybody in Texas is going to move to California now?
40
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 17, 10:41am
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 17, 10:41am
Ceffer says
Some CA transplants sure will.
Does this mean everybody in Texas is going to move to California now?
Some CA transplants sure will.
42
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 17, 11:04am
Eric Holder
2021 Feb 17, 11:04am
Fortwaynemobile says
Their energy sector is deregulated and therefore is max efficient. Which means almost no redundancy. Which is good when everything goes right and very bad when something goes wrong.
Why did red Texas do this retard shit?
Their energy sector is deregulated and therefore is max efficient. Which means almost no redundancy. Which is good when everything goes right and very bad when something goes wrong.
43
zzyzzx
2021 Feb 17, 11:29am
zzyzzx
2021 Feb 17, 11:29am
Eric Holder says
This!!! Electric generation deregulation means little or no spare capacity since it's not profitable to build a power plant that's almost never used. That and I bet if there is an old oil fired plant that's rarely ever used in Texas the oil is too coagulated to pump at the moment. That and supposedly there is a natural gas shortage there right now, so instead of using the NG to generate electricity, it's used for home heating.
Their energy sector is deregulated and therefore is max efficient. Which means almost no redundancy. Which is good when everything goes right and very bad when something goes wrong.
This!!! Electric generation deregulation means little or no spare capacity since it's not profitable to build a power plant that's almost never used. That and I bet if there is an old oil fired plant that's rarely ever used in Texas the oil is too coagulated to pump at the moment. That and supposedly there is a natural gas shortage there right now, so instead of using the NG to generate electricity, it's used for home heating.
44
thenuttyneutron
2021 Feb 17, 12:07pm
thenuttyneutron
2021 Feb 17, 12:07pm
MAGA says
https://atomicinsights.com/south-texas-project-unit-1-tripped-at-0537-on-feb-15-2021/
This unit should not have tripped. It was entirely preventable with a little bit of heat trace or insulation on the sensing line. Nuke plants are awesome in cold weather because they are usually unaffected by the cold and they are more efficient in cold weather. These plants run 18 to 24 months between refuelings and can maintain full power through most of the time between refueling outages. The plants sometimes have to coast down at the end because they have run out of excess reactivity to keep the plant at 100%.
Even with a deep coast down, these plants provide a lot of clean reliable power.
I'm glad that San Antonio invested (40%) in nuclear power. I hope they build South-Texas-3 and South-Texas-4 as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Texas_Nuclear_Generating_Station
https://atomicinsights.com/south-texas-project-unit-1-tripped-at-0537-on-feb-15-2021/
This unit should not have tripped. It was entirely preventable with a little bit of heat trace or insulation on the sensing line. Nuke plants are awesome in cold weather because they are usually unaffected by the cold and they are more efficient in cold weather. These plants run 18 to 24 months between refuelings and can maintain full power through most of the time between refueling outages. The plants sometimes have to coast down at the end because they have run out of excess reactivity to keep the plant at 100%.
Even with a deep coast down, these plants provide a lot of clean reliable power.
45
RWSGFY
2021 Feb 17, 12:49pm
RWSGFY
2021 Feb 17, 12:49pm
thenuttyneutron says
"Some people have wondered how “pressure sensing lines” for a feed water pump could have been affected by cold outside air temperatures. There are no turbine halls at STP, both of steam turbines are out in the open air. I’m sure there is a design reason for this choice, but it isn’t apparent."
First time I hear about turbines being out in the open. This is weird AF.
This unit should not have tripped. It was entirely preventable with a little bit of heat trace or insulation on the sensing line.
"Some people have wondered how “pressure sensing lines” for a feed water pump could have been affected by cold outside air temperatures. There are no turbine halls at STP, both of steam turbines are out in the open air. I’m sure there is a design reason for this choice, but it isn’t apparent."
First time I hear about turbines being out in the open. This is weird AF.
47
Patrick
2021 Feb 17, 8:06pm
Patrick
2021 Feb 17, 8:06pm
My wife was saying that Texas somehow entirely prohibits buying power from other states.
Maybe it's because California got so completely screwed by the Enron guys 20 years ago or so.
Maybe it's because California got so completely screwed by the Enron guys 20 years ago or so.
48
ForcedTQ
2021 Feb 17, 10:53pm
Patrick says
ERCOT is a physical island without interconnection between the west and east grids.
My wife was saying that Texas somehow entirely prohibits buying power from other states.
Maybe it's because California got so completely screwed by the Enron guys 20 years ago or so.
ERCOT is a physical island without interconnection between the west and east grids.
49
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 17, 11:47pm
just_passing_through
2021 Feb 17, 11:47pm
Woo hoo! Finally got power late at night 3 days later! Warming up... Still no water pressure so no shower, no clean cloths...
Get this: My rent houses are pretty new. Recently gas water heaters turned over to piezo electric starters instead of the old light-a-match method. This is so when not heating the gas can be cut entirely and when needed it's started electronically. Sort of like shitty cars these days.
Well one of my renters got his power back yesterday and couldn't turn the heater back on. It's close by and I was just looking at ice melt so I went over to try to help. It has a button on it to initiate a spark much like a BBQ grill.
Fucker doesn't work. He's fucked.
Anyone who's started a gas appliance can tell you even with a cigarette lighter they can be finicky. You have to warm them up with the damn lighter when they are cold to get the gas flowing.
What a fucking moronic idea!
Get this: My rent houses are pretty new. Recently gas water heaters turned over to piezo electric starters instead of the old light-a-match method. This is so when not heating the gas can be cut entirely and when needed it's started electronically. Sort of like shitty cars these days.
Well one of my renters got his power back yesterday and couldn't turn the heater back on. It's close by and I was just looking at ice melt so I went over to try to help. It has a button on it to initiate a spark much like a BBQ grill.
Fucker doesn't work. He's fucked.
Anyone who's started a gas appliance can tell you even with a cigarette lighter they can be finicky. You have to warm them up with the damn lighter when they are cold to get the gas flowing.
What a fucking moronic idea!
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The Austin American-Statesman reported, “Wind farms across the state generate up to a combined 25,100 megawatts of energy. But unusually moist winter conditions in West Texas brought on by the weekend’s freezing rain and historically low temperatures have iced many of those wind turbines to a halt,” they added. “As of Sunday morning, those iced turbines comprise 12,000 megawatts of Texas’ installed wind generation capacity, although those West Texas turbines don’t typically spin to their full generation capacity this time of year.”
A photo began circulating on Twitter which shows a helicopter is using fossil fuel-derived chemicals to defrost a wind turbine, showing that only relying on renewable energy leads to many unforeseen complications.
“Wind power has been the fastest-growing source of energy in Texas’ power grid. In 2015 winder power generation supplied 11% of Texas’ energy grid. Last year it supplied 23% and overtook coal as the system’s second-largest source of energy after natural gas,” the Austin American-Statesman added. “The frozen turbines come as low temperatures strain the state’s power grid and force operators to call for immediate statewide conservation efforts, like unplugging non-essential appliances, turning down residential heaters and minimize use of electric lighting.”
https://thescoop.us/texas-wind-power-generation-cut-in-half-due-to-winter-storm/