As millions of people in Texas lost heat and electricity during a historic cold earlier this week, the future of renewable energy in the big-and-growing state and elsewhere showed fresh research, aided by images of ice-baked wind turbines.
But blaming renewable energy at a time when they need to modernize more, and not less, the country’s power system is short-sighted, especially since more extreme weather is likely due to climate change, energy analysts said.
Read: Millions in Texas are still without power amid record cold
To begin with, the blame for the crisis in Texas, at least according to early readings by Texas officials, and supported by analysts, was multiple. The fact alone should advance the pursuit of a diverse energy portfolio and upgraded network to help the U.S. recover emissions that contribute to global warming and keep energy relatively inexpensive, especially for vulnerable communities.
“The dangerous situations in Texas and Oklahoma underscore the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for transformational investments in our country’s infrastructure, including the electricity grid,” said Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power. Climate Power, originally called Climate Power 2020 because of the then focus on the 2020 election, is a policy project created by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club.
Politicians and industry leaders loyal to fossil fuels this week made their case against renewable energy, taking advantage of the fact that wind is an energy source, like solar power, that needs to be planned for intermittent generation. Meaning: it is not always reliable.
They have doubled over their statement that fuel resources, including natural gas, will have to appear along with wind, solar, nuclear and other options, even as the U.S. tackles climate change, and as states with Texas embrace more renewable energy.
Without natural gas NG00,
the industry argues, the power grid will venture more frequently rolling eclipses such as the Texas and other mostly flat states. Rollover disruptions in California this past summer were partly fixed on the premature retirement of gas plants, as the state pursued a clean energy agenda. Texas Senator Ted Cruz saw his tweeted criticism of California resurface this week as more than 4 million Texans became powerless.
So what source was behind the mess in Texas?
‘The crisis in Texas was not caused by the state’s renewable energy industry. The biggest loss of generation comes from gas stations, with the delivery of wind farms a long way behind, “U.S. Vice President Ed Crooks told Wood Mackenzie.
The use of natural gas for residential heating competes with its use to generate electricity, and its use is stretched in the typically hot Texas. The shortage could be blamed on extreme weather conditions, or it could be the first sign that winter planning for a renewable and fossil fuel blend needs to intensify.
Texas utilities, which rely mostly on natural gas and wind all year round, would have reduced their planning for wind power even before the storm, as is usual in winter. Summer is the best energy consumption and wind accounts for only 25% of the state’s energy mix during the winter. Officials suggested that wind power during the ice storm usually meets that time of year. Most disruptions were on the parts of the Texas grid that depend on natural gas, coal and nuclear power, which account for more than two-thirds of the power generation during the winter.
The cold was unique, but so was the utility network in Texas.
Almost all of Texas operates as a single electrical network that is not integrated with the surrounding states. The network is managed by the Texas Electric Reliability Council, ERCOT, a nonprofit organization controlled by the state legislature and free from national regulations. Among the best times, it creates great prices in both directions; in the worst times, like this week, homes and businesses are getting dark and cold.
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The American Gas Association said the analysis of exactly what went wrong in Texas during the freezing point, and what takeaways from experience could inform any change in the use of natural gas for electricity going forward, would take longer.
National data from the AGA showed that 153.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas was delivered to the U.S. on February 14 and 149.8 Bcf was delivered on February 15. Sunday was the second highest delivery day ever and the two days together set a record for the biggest demand for a two-day period. The group represents about 200 local energy companies, including some in Texas, that supply natural gas to utilities. Finally, approximately 71 million customers in the US use the gas offered by the firm AGA.
Discussion in the coming days, weeks and months ‘should include how we utilize and appreciate the role that the system plays in the coldest days of the year … taking into account disruption and serious events’, said Richard Meyer, managing director of energy markets, analysis said. and standards with the AGA.
Read: US freezes on natural gas and uranium prices melt
Renewable energy must also be reconsidered.
“The loss of power was a warning of the problems that will be raised as the share of renewable generation on the network rises,” said Crooks of Wood Mackenzie.
Production, transmission and distribution equipment and the design of the electricity market will become even more important in meeting the challenges posed by a renewable heavy network.
“Distributed resources, including storage and demand response, will also have to play a bigger role. “The renewable capacity in Texas will have to increase more than ten times to produce the same amount of energy that the fossil fuel fleet produces on Monday, even at lower levels,” said Wood Mackenzie analysts.
Because it may seem excessive at some times of the year, storage will be of great importance, including batteries, hydrogen or any other technology.
Wade Scheur, research director of America at Wood MacKenzie, said there are specific lessons from Texas. For starters, the state has several large population centers, but clusters for renewable energy are far away from large cities, requiring more miles of potentially vulnerable transmission lines.
And there is no winter reliability basket for the state-owned utility system as for example in other parts of the regulated US
‘There is little incentive for renewable energy, or even other sources, to increase capacity. Many energy sources are pumped seasonally from October to May, ”said Scheur. “Perhaps capacity and incentives to produce better in the winter need extra consideration.”
This may be true in Texas and elsewhere. Weather-related power outages are increasing in the US as climate change produces more extreme storms and temperature fluctuations, writes Michael Webber, professor of energy resources, at the University of Texas at Austin in a comment.
“States that design their buildings and infrastructure for hot weather may need to plan more major cold fever, and cold weather states can expect more heat waves,” he said. “As conditions in Texas show, there is no time to waste getting ready again.”