Don’t Blame Wind Turbines for Texas’ Massive Power Outages
February 16, 2021 at 11:54PM Don’t point too many fingers at Texas wind turbines, because they’re not the main reason broad swaths of the state have been plunged into darkness. While ice has forced some turbines to shut down just as a brutal cold wave drives record electricity demand, that’s been the least significant factor in the blackouts, according to Dan Woodfin, a senior director for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid. The main factors: Frozen instruments at natural gas, coal and even nuclear facilities, as well as limited supplies of natural gas, he said. “Natural gas pressure” in particular is one reason power is coming back slower than expected Tuesday, added Woodfin. “We’ve had some issues with pretty much every kind of generating capacity in the course of this multi- day event,” he said. The blackouts, which have spread from Texas across the Great Plains, have reignited the debate about the reliability of intermi...