Did Wind Energy Failure Cause Blackouts in Texas in 2021?
- Isaac Smith
- Feb 22, 2021
- 2 min read
Image by Jason Blackeye
Record breaking cold weather hit Texas in February 2021. Around 4 million Texans lost electricity. Many blame wind energy. So, did frozen wind turbines cause blackouts in Texas in 2021? I imagine investigations will be ongoing, but this is what we have so far:
Almost half of Texas’ wind turbines went offline in the ice and reduced power output by less than 16,000 megawatts. So wind power failures caused 13% of the blackouts. Because Texas doesn’t usually receive anywhere near as much ice, snow, or negative temperatures, it doesn’t do much heavy winterizing of any of its energy equipment whether renewable or not. Wind turbines work fine in antarctica and other cold places when prepared for it. Lack of foresight, preparation, and public communication, along with heavy electrical use meant thousands of households and businesses lost electricity. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, that manages most of Texas’ electrical grid, shut off many people’s power to keep the entire grid from collapsing. Texas also operates its own energy grid unlike all other US states, so if the weather inhibits most of the Lone Star State’s production, no state with more energy-favoring weather can assist it. While many people blame wind or renewable energy for the blackouts, Dan Woodfin, an ERCOT senior director stated, “It appears that a lot of the generation that has gone offline today [the 16th of February] has been primarily due to issues on the natural gas system”. Texas relies heavily on natural gas energy, and, in winter, burns it for heating too. That meant that the sudden uptick in both demolished the state’s supply. So while wind turbines have flaws and were not performing to their full capability this February, all the main energy sources failed; their operators did not adequately prepare. Wind turbines do not deserve the brunt of the blame. While i am not angling for a fight, i also think it is worth asking, “why would a fossil fuel friendly state want to scapegoat wind energy?”
Also see our post on wind power and birds:
And the impacts of solar farming:
Disclaimer: Other people’s websites might be worse (or better) than mine. They might have false, rude, inappropriate, or otherwise disagreeable content on them. They might have taken down their website since i last viewed it in 2021. None of those issues are my problem.
(Among many other fact-based articles)
https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-green-energy-power-cuts-texas-1569922
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