Puff the Magic Dragon

Posted by Iain Murray

More proof that wind power is no panacea for the nation’s looming electricity crisis. The wind dropped in Texas, and caused blackouts:

ERCOT said the grid’s frequency dropped suddenly when wind production fell from more than 1,700 megawatts, before the event, to 300 MW when the emergency was declared.

In addition, ERCOT said multiple power suppliers fell below the amount of power they were scheduled to produce on Tuesday. That, coupled with the loss of wind generated in West Texas, created problems moving power to the west from North Texas.

ERCOT declares a stage 1 emergency when power reserves fall below 2,300 MW. A stage 2 emergency is called when reserves fall below 1,750 MW.

At the time of the emergency, ERCOT demand increased from 31,200 MW to a peak of 35,612 MW, about half the total generating capacity in the region, according to the agency’s Web site.

Meanwhile, in Denmark, wind turbines are exploding. Dramatic video (provenance uncertain, so may not be genuine) here. This follows the fatal collapse of a wind tower in Oregon last summer. They also come with environmental costs of their own.

Now, of course, all energy production comes with risks, but wind power has such a positive image that people think of it as completely safe, environmentally-friendly and reliable. That’s not the case.

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02/28/2008 @ 1:55 pm | Energy, Environment, Global Warming, Sanctimony | Comments

Viewing 1 Comment

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    It's absolutely true--there is no panacea for all of our energy problems. Wind power produces no air pollution, no water pollution, no greenhouse gases, and requires no mining or drilling for fuel and no water use--but it's not perfect, just very, very good.

    For a more balanced view of the Texas utility system event, see today's (3/1/08) Houston Chronicle article.

    When the wind stops blowing and wind farm electricity generation drops, the process usually takes hours. By contrast, other power plants may go out of service instantaneously when a problem occurs. Wind forecasting,
    which could have helped address the ERCOT situation, can be and is being used by utility system operators to manage wind on their systems, and will become standard practice as the use of this clean, renewable energy source continues to grow.

    Regards,
    Thomas O. Gray
    American Wind Energy Association
    www.powerofwind.org
    www.awea.org
 
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