That wind power generating capacity is intermittent capacity and cannot be relied upon is obvious but sometimes escapes notice in the enthusiasm for “renewable energy”. That wind power must be backed up by other more reliable generating capacity for the periods when winds are too low or too high or when the weather is too cold is also often glossed over. That wind power must be used when the wind does blow irrespective of level of demand and thereby displace more stable power (thus rendering it more expensive) is an inevitable consequence.
The following report comes as no surprise.
METEOROLOGICAL MUSINGS reports:
from the “Dallas Morning News”The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said 7,000 megawatts of generating capacity tripped [“tripped” means failed]Tuesday night, leaving the state without enough juice. That’s enough capacity to power about 1.4 million homes. By rotating outages, ERCOT said it prevented total blackouts.“We have the double whammy of extremely high demand, given the lowest temperatures in 15 years, combined with generation that’s been compromised and is producing less than expected or needed,” said Oncor spokeswoman Catherine Cuellar. Oncor operates power lines in North Texas and facilitated the blackouts for ERCOT.The article didn’t give a clue as to what generating capability failed, but I can make a pretty good guess: Wind energy…For a time, Texas was bragging about being the #1 state for “wind power” (it still is) and we were bombarded with TV commercials and newspaper editorial touting the “Pickens Plan” for massive spending on wind energy. Pickens himself was building a huge wind farm in northwest Texas. He has now ceased construction.Now, because of relying so much on wind power, the state is suffering blackouts.Mexico is trying to help by shipping power to Texas, but it is not enough.
Tags: Electricity generation, Rolling blackouts, Texas, wind power, Wind power failure
The k2p blog 
February 4, 2011 at 1:37 pm
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February 4, 2011 at 6:49 pm
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February 5, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Hey guys, you may want to read what the CEO of the Texas grid operator had to say about the blackouts. ERCOT CEO Trip Doggett: “I’m not aware of any nuclear plant problems, and I’m not aware of any specific issues with wind turbines having to shut down due to icing. I would highlight that we put out a special word of thanks to the wind community because they did contribute significantly through this timeframe. Wind was blowing, and we had often 3,500 megawatts of wind generation during that morning peak, which certainly helped us in this situation.”
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-energy/energy/an-interview-with-the-ceo-of-the-texas-grid/
That’s right, wind was providing enough electricity to keep the lights on for about 3 million average homes. So what did cause the blackouts? Turns out it was 50 coal and gas power plants that broke down and took 7,000 MW of generation offline. From the interview above:
“Question: On Wednesday, more than 50 plants went offline, ERCOT has said. Were they a few big coal plants plus mostly gas plants?
Doggett: They were a variety. That’s a point I should make is that this was distributed across the state. It was multiple owners; it was multiple fuel technologies. So it wasn’t limited specifically to coal. It included a number of gas units as well.”
February 5, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Since you represent the Wind Energy Association I would have appreciated your mentioning it. I quote the reply to your comment in another place:
“Apparently wind output decreased by 2585 MW from 3 pm Tuesday to 6 am Wednesday. That is about the same capacity lost as the two coal plants that tripped on Wednesday morning. They were generating 3630 MW at 6 am Wednesday, but that was down 41% from Tuesday”. ERCOT went through something similar in 2008.
The point is not that wind power cannot produce, the point is that it is intermittent, unreliable and cannot contribute to a planned capacity. It must be backed up.
Click to access 43373.pdf
February 8, 2011 at 1:16 am
Making a point is no justification for misrepresenting facts. Here are the questions and the quotes:
TT: On Wednesday, more than 50 plants went offline, ERCOT has said. Were they a few big coal plants plus mostly gas plants?
Doggett: They were a variety. That’s a point I should make is that this was distributed across the state. It was multiple owners; it was multiple fuel technologies. So it wasn’t limited specifically to coal. It included a number of gas units as well.
TT: Were there problems with wind-power plants needing to be shut down for high winds or icing blades, and also did nuclear plants have any problems?
Doggett: I’m not aware of any nuclear plant problems, and I’m not aware of any specific issues with wind turbines having to shut down due to icing. I would highlight that we put out a special word of thanks to the wind community because they did contribute significantly through this time frame. Wind was blowing, and we had often 3,500 megawatts of wind generation during that morning peak, which certainly helped us in this situation.