The Grind:
With the worst of the Texas power crisis now behind us, the blame and finger-pointing begins, and while the jury is still out whose actions (or lack thereof) may have led to the deadly and widespread blackouts that shocked Texas this week, Cascend Strategy writes that “in case there was any doubt why the Texas grid collapsed, the data is clear.”
Wind failed as “Ice storms knocked out nearly half the wind-power generating capacity of Texas on Sunday as a massive deep freeze across the state locked up wind turbine generators, creating an electricity generation crisis.” Natural gas made up the difference for a while; But then everything else followed down.
The Details:
Some more detail from Cascend which lays out the events of this week in sequence: A massive cold snap drove demand for electricity well beyond normal levels. Wind power failed to deliver it’s expected power- almost 40% of expected power – in part due to lack of winterized wind turbines. Natural gas (as always) made up the difference… Read more…