Wind power set to fail Texas in polar vortex | Eastern NC Now

Texas is set to learn the huge downside of depending on intermittent  wind and solar energy as a polar vortex bears down on the state.  When demand is high, wind and solar often do not produce, and to try to keep the grid up, power suppliers have to turn to the often very expensive spot market to replace the power wind and solar fails to provide.  That bill ultimately falls on electric consumers, and it is about to hit Texas hard.

 

Texas, with abundant fuel resources was foolish to put too much emphasis on wind power, but now with huge heating demand due to the polar vortex, wind turbines are often frozen and do not operate, or there is too little wind to turn them.  As to solar, cloud cover, snow cover, and frost, as well as night time, render them largely useless.  With Biden oil and gas policies, there is even a shortage of natural gas to add to the inherent wind and solar problems.

 

A representative of Texas power grid operator ERCOT explained "we are dealing with higher-than-normal generation outages due to frozen wind turbines and limited natural gas supplies" and he suggested the possibility of rolling blackouts as he asked Texans to limit electricity usage.  Spot prices of electricity increased by 2,762% in a matter of days as wind and solar failed the system, and were expected to hit an astronomical $9,000 per megawatt hour on Tuesday.