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As the anniversary approaches of Winter Storm Elliott, a pair of reports released this month reveal how much worse the situation almost became and the continued vulnerability of the U.S. energy grid to frigid weather.
Energy Central…
While much of the world lives life as usual, DTEK—the largest private investor in Ukraine’s energy sector—is focused on providing reliable service amidst war and uncertainty.
“Today, the major topic for us is to provide stability in durations of electricity sector in Ukraine and also do everything possible to prepare for winter season,” DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko said during a press briefing on Aug. 18.
DTEK’s companies are involved in coal and natural gas extraction; electricity generation from wind, solar, and thermal power plants; energy resources trading in national and international markets; distributing and supplying electricity to consumers; providing energy efficiency services to customers; and developing high-speed charging station networks. It employs about 60,000 people, and has been recognized as one of Ukraine’s best employers by EY (the international auditing company) and Ukrainian business publications.
“Unfortunately, we pay a very high price to maintain electricity supply in the areas under control,” said Timchenko, referring to the 67 DTEK employees who have been killed as a result of the war while performing work for the company.…
Parts of Texas have suffered localized, distribution-level power outages as an Arctic outbreak sent temperatures plummeting across the state, but its heavily scrutinized grid is largely prepared to weather the storm, state entities said.
Frigid temperatures stemming from a large dome of Arctic high pressure are sending temperatures into the single digits and below zero throughout the Great Plains, with some short-lived cold temperature anomalies “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” But anxiety about the storm’s effect on the power grid has ramped up, given the historic, deadly power crisis that overwhelmed Texas and the south-central U.S. during Winter Storm Uri a year ago. Winter Storm Uri’s unprecedented reach prompted an average 34,000 MW of unplanned generation losses across the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid for more than two consecutive days, from Feb. 15, 2021, to Feb. 17, 2021. The generation losses were equivalent to nearly half of ERCOT’s all-time winter peak electric load of 69,871 MW.…
The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) is warning that much of the central U.S.—a region that stretches from the Great Lakes into southern Texas—may face critical power deficiencies during extreme winter weather conditions over the next three months. Natural gas supply disruptions and low hydropower conditions could also imperil power reliability in New England and the West, it said.
In its Nov. 18–issued 2021–2022 Winter Reliability Assessment, the nation’s designated Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) urged generators across the U.S. to take proactive steps to prepare for an eventful winter and keep communications open with grid operators.
NERC also called on grid operators to prepare and implement cold weather operating plans, conduct drills, and poll generators for fuel and availability status. Load-serving entities should review critical loads to prevent disruptions, and regulators should support requested environmental waivers, it said.
The ERO’s dire report echoes its May-issued summer assessment, when it warned of “elevated risks” for energy emergencies in Texas, New England, in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) territory, and parts of the West.…
The post Great Winter Storm of 2021 Will Live in Grid History appeared first on POWER Magazine.
It will be some time before we know every detail that aligned to cause the tremendous number of sustained power outages in Texas, or the spiking power prices across all markets in the central states.
Some things we do know. Some natural gas supply was frozen in. Some wind turbines froze up, and ice damaged some power lines and caused congestion.
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Even coal and nuclear were not immune to the carnage. Some units cycled down on Feb. 15 and have been slow to recover. During the early hours of the storm’s approach, all 254 counties in Texas, and all 77 counties in Oklahoma, were under winter storm warnings.
With the winter storm bearing down on Texas, record peak demand was forecast for the early morning hours of Feb. 16, exceeding 76 GW. With the generators already shutting down, power output fell to around 45 GW and remained at about that level. During…