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Wind turbines freeze in Texas due to massive winter storm

Catwell

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A winter storm caused wind turbines to freeze over in Texas, which limited the state’s power generation capacity during record-breaking power demand. (Image Credit: Vincent Foret/Unsplash)

 

Nearly half of Texas’ wind power generation capacity has been cut off due to a winter storm that slammed the state over the weekend, leaving 3 million people without power. Usually, Texas wind farms generate 25,100 megawatts of power. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), wind turbines had frozen over, which accounted for 12,000 megawatts of energy. They also stated that unfrozen turbines are generating energy much faster, helping to offset the losses.

 

In 2020, wind turbines accounted for nearly 25% of Texas’ energy, making it the next biggest power source after natural gas. Turbines can be fitted with anti-freeze technology so they can operate in cold weather. However, it’s expensive to install the modifications, and they’re rarely developed in areas where they might not be needed. Can we expect this to be an issue anywhere turbines are used from now on? Seems so.

 

The frozen turbines were part of a perfect storm of energy sources limiting Texas’ power generation capacity during record-breaking electric demand as a result of freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall. Natural gas being the #1 problem. Temperatures dipped into the single-digits in areas as far as San Antonio. It’s not known when power could return, as rolling blackouts were ordered in the state on Monday.  The rotating blackouts, which are spreading from Texas across the Great Plains, are expected to continue until Texas’ weather emergency ends.

 

The wind is not entirely at fault for the outages. Around 27 gigawatts of coal, nuclear, and gas capacity are unavailable. This is because the cold has caused more demand for natural gas, which provides heating.

 

Wind turbines are less efficient when they freeze due to cold temperatures, and their blades stop spinning.  However, it could be hazardous if ice forms on the blades since it could break off or fall to the ground.   

 

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  • in reply to genebren

    Thanks for the first hand accounts.

    Glad you were able to survive it.

    Best wishes to all for a speedy recovery and getting back to normal.

  • Just another perspective, from a Texan....  While there were plenty of power problems, there were more than enough other utility and infrastructure issues here.  Over the course of several days, there were multiple issues that struck San Antonio, Texas.

     

    1. All major freeways and most roadways were shutdown.  The city has no snow removal equipment and very limited deicing capabilities.
    2. A large portion of the city loss water for a few to several days.  Power was loss to pumping stations (the water system relies on aquifer water), along with frozen pipes (both delivery and sewage) lead to massive issues.  Water is mostly restored, but there still is a water boil order.
    3. Due to the loss of power (due to a grid system that favors suppliers and not consumers or hardiness) and restricted travel (items 1 and 2), stores were soon short of basic supplies as the stores could not restock.

     

    We never lost power, but we did loose water (2 days) and heat (4 days).  The heat loss was due to having a non-winterized heat pump system (new and expensive) that could not generate heat with the low temperatures (great cooling efficiencies, but useless below ~40C - we were able to maintain 50-55C inside the home). We made it through it with little damage (a few broken pipes in the garden) and we were able to get out this morning, found some gas, and even got most everything we needed at the grocery store.  I learned a lot of things that might help if we are faced with a similar situation and have a list of things that I need to due to be a little less reliant on the fragile utilities here.

     

    I certain hope that everyone else is doing well out there and able to be fed and comfortable.

  • in reply to robogary

    I am not sure about fuel cells, they are a bit pricy.

     

    I have a natural gas fired all house emergency generator that works quite well when I need it, fairly low maintenance and very reliable.

     

    In a pinch, it could run for many weeks, though I have only needed it for a max of about 24 hours so far.

     

    You could easily put in localized natural gas generators in every community where you have access to the gas.

     

    As I said, the key is to have a predetermined level of usage for different states of emergency so that you do not exceed the local power available.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    very good points.

    Distributed energy storage is another possible solution to help with cycled brownouts, but energy storage systems are intended for short term ride thru, not be be a week long source in itself.

    In this situation, energy storage makes even worse problems, say for example if your electric vehicle was used for emergency home power, everybody needs a recharge at the same time as the high demand making the grid even worse shape.

    Maybe localized fuel cells would be a good solution for emergencies and intermittent use.

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Hi Nico,

     

    The issues in Texas highlight the challenges to an out dated power grid.

    The current system was ok as long as you had plenty of power and multiple sources online all the time.

     

    With wind and solar system finally reaching scale, their variability shows that the entire network of power generation and use needs to be more robustly controlled.

     

    I highlighted the use issues because between Texas and California, we have seen that the existing distribution system is too limited for modern needs.

     

    I realize that there are no simple answers here, but the modern technology can help update the power distribution and power usage down to the building level so that we maximize the availability to the most critical users instead of using an on and off switch for huge numbers of people.

     

    What we have seen in Texas is possible anywhere in the world and the sensitivity of the power distribution system is more critical now then it has ever been because of the absolute dependency of most people to an outdated grid.

     

    This problem needs to be address immediately because the dependency is growing daily.

     

    DAB