Month: March 2021

Michael Webber is the Josey Centennial Professor in Energy Resources, Author, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.
He is also the Chief Science and Technology Officer at ENGIE, a global energy & infrastructure services company. 

Michael Webber in Waco Tribune:

This is like a replay of a movie we’ve watched before. And as everyone knows, the sequel is usually worse than the original. The most energy-abundant state in the nation suffered a catastrophic energy shortage. Again.

Almost a decade ago to the day, Texas endured a statewide freeze in February 2011. That cold snap caused some large thermal plants to trip offline, which triggered a cascading series of power plant failures elsewhere, leading to rolling blackouts for millions of people across the state.

Flash forward a decade and it happened again — but worse. There were failures throughout the power sector. Some solar farms were coated in snow and some wind turbines had ice on their blades, reducing renewable output to the grid. More critically, Texas lost more than 30 gigawatts of thermal capacity — natural gas, coal and nuclear power plants — because of frozen equipment, outages and freezes in the natural gas supply system. It’s as if we have not learned a single thing from 2011.

Unfortunately, because of Texas’ independent grid, we also did not have the ability to import power from neighboring states. And, critically, we reject climate science, which means we are not prepared for the reality of changing weather patterns.

What needs to change is that we need to build climate science into our planning so that we’re not building the infrastructure of tomorrow for yesterday’s weather. Scientists have been warning us for years that increasing accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will manifest itself in several ways: ocean acidification, higher sea levels, and warmer air and ocean temperatures — meaning more frequent and intense weather events. Our recent experiences with cold snaps are consistent with a weakening jet stream, which allows cold air from the North Pole to move thousands of miles further south than was typical a few decades ago.

Instead of just pretending we live in a hot state, we need to recognize these arctic fronts are an ongoing part of our future. That means we need to winterize the gas supply and power plants with insulation, heat tracing, temporary or permanent enclosures to keep out wind and precipitation, on-site heaters for thawing equipment, cold climate packages for wind turbines, and snow removal for solar panels.

Texas’ grid should diversify to reduce interdependencies and over-reliance on gas. The natural gas system depends heavily on electricity, and the electricity system depends heavily on gas. In a vicious downward spiral, power constraints inhibit the ability to supply gas and vice versa. Reducing the power sector’s needs for gas lets us continue to prioritize the gas supply for home heating. Adding more sources such as geothermal, wind and solar that do not rely on gas will reduce that vulnerability. Nuclear and coal could be alternatives to gas, but they are much more expensive and have their own reliability problems. In fact, in the 2021 and 2011 storms, several coal plants failed due to the wintry conditions.

Continue reading “Michael Webber PhD: Learning the Right Lessons from Texas Debacle”

Alison Silverstein is an independent energy consultant and former strategic advisor for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (FERC)

She spoke for a webinar sponsored by Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation.

Scientific American:

The energy storage industry is shattering records for battery deployments, underscoring its growing role in decarbonizing the economy.

In the last three months of 2020, nearly 2.2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage systems were put into operation, according to the energy data firm Wood Mackenzie. That’s an increase of 182% from the previous record-setting quarter.

The blockbuster fourth quarter capped a year that saw a total of 3.5 GWh installed—more than the 3.1 GWh that went into operation in the previous six years combined. That torrid growth has industry boosters and researchers feeling very bullish about the prospects for energy storage.

“This is the hallmark of a market beginning to accelerate exponentially, and momentum will only increase over the coming years,” Dan Finn-Foley, Wood Mackenzie’s head of energy storage, said in a press release.

Energy storage systems are often used to capture power when the supply of wind or solar energy exceeds demand. Electric utilities, businesses or homeowners can then draw on those systems to produce emission-free electricity when intermittent renewable energy is unavailable.

A study released last month by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine examined how the U.S. can bring its carbon emissions down to net zero by midcentury, which scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Energy storage was a key part of that road map (Climatewire, Feb. 3).

The Wood Mackenzie report, produced in conjunction with the U.S. Energy Storage Association trade group, found that most of the growth last year was due to large-scale installations from utility companies.

California, which suffered a series of climate-related blackouts last year, was the top market for energy storage systems in 2020. The Golden State led in all three market segments that the report detailed: “residential”; “non-residential,” meaning mostly businesses; and “front-of-the-meter,” which mainly refers to utilities.

The lessons Americans, and Texans, in particular, learn from the Blackout Debacle will shape a lot of critical decisions in the near future.
Fortunately, the “wind turbines froze” narrative is not getting traction – and polls are showing the broader public gets it that all unweatherized power sources failed across the Texas grid (but not in similarly cold states nearby, with adequate preparation).

Big question in my mind: Does Texas choose to continue its “go it alone” grid strategy? That isolation plan was adopted to avoid federal regulations on electricity that could cross state lines.
If they opt for more transmission, that’s great, as it could open up Texas surplus wind and solar power to the US grid, meaning more stability, and better profits for wind generators.
If they opt to stay an electricity island – then almost certainly the way forward will call for massive investment in grid scale storage – and Texas is big enough that a move of that kind could further accelerate global markets for storage, and drive prices down even further, faster.
Either way, the clean energy revolution not likely to slow down.

Media Matters:

A poll released today from the progressive strategy firm Data for Progress found the American public did not buy into a relentless propaganda campaign from right-wing media, which attempted to blame the Texas blackouts on renewable energy sources.

Instead, the public understood the reality of what went on: All power sources in the state had failed, including the state’s primary fossil fuels.

The poll asked respondents which of the following options caused the power outages in Texas:

1. Unusually cold winter weather conditions caused Texas power plants, including coal, natural gas, nuclear, and renewable energy sources, to go offline. This caused power outages across the state.
2. Texas invested too much in renewable energy like wind and solar energy. Wind turbines froze because of the cold weather which led to power outages across the state.

In response, 64% of surveyed people correctly picked the first option, compared to only 28% who thought that Texas had over-invested itself in wind turbines. Even 50% of self-identified Republicans chose the correct answer, while 41% blamed renewable energy. The poll was conducted from February 19 to 22, surveying likely voters nationally via web panels.

Dallas Morning News:

Two out of three Texans lost electricity, water or both in last month’s devastating winter storm, though it’s unclear their harrowing experiences will have lasting political consequences, according to a poll released Sunday by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler.

By a 2-1 margin, Texas registered voters say state and local leaders failed to adequately alert the public about the deadly punch the storm could deliver to power and water services so residents could prepare. Leaders underestimated the threat, a majority of Republicans and more than 70% of independents and Democrats believe.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s response to the arctic blast and prolonged blackouts and water outages divides Texans. The poll found 53% say the Republican governor did well or very well, while 46% say he performed either not well or not well at all.

“Memories of what leaders could have done may fade, because it is not clear that one entity is to blame,” said UT-Tyler political scientist Mark Owens, who directed the survey.

The poll, taken Feb. 22 to March 2, was conducted after the ice melted, power was restored and most residents regained water service, though some boil-water notices remained in effect. The poll surveyed 1,210 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.84 percentage points.

Interviews ended the same day Abbott lifted his July requirement of face coverings in public spaces and rolled back COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and public venues, so the poll was unable to gauge Texans’ reactions.

Again the very excellent KHOU Houston reporting on the continuing investigation into Texas “Baseload” Blackout Debacle.

Above, more from my conversation with Daniel Cohan of Rice University.
He’s among those who wonder if advanced, or “enhanced” geothermal energy might be a dark horse answer to the question of how to firm the grid in coming decades.

Below, my own visit to a Geothermal station in Iceland, from 2013.

Canadian report below –

Continue reading “Geothermal Could be a Sleeper”

Above, the chicken and egg problem of EVs and EV chargers.

TechCrunch:

Shell’s plan to roll out 500,000 electric charging stations in just four years is the latest sign of an EV charging infrastructure boom that has prompted investors to pour cash into the industry and inspired a few companies to become public companies in search of the capital needed to meet demand.

Since the beginning of the year, three companies have been acquired by special purpose acquisition vehicles and are on a path to go public, while a third has raised tens of millions from some of the biggest names in private equity investing for its own path to commercial viability.

The SPAC attack began in September when an electric vehicle charging network ChargePoint struck a deal to merge with special purpose acquisition company Switchback Energy Acquisition Corporation, with a market valuation of $2.4 billion. The company’s public listing will debut February 16 on the New York Stock Exchange.

In January, EVgo, an owner and operator of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, agreed to merge with the SPAC Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition for a valuation of $2.6 billion — a huge win for the company’s privately held owner, the power development and investment company LS Power. LS Power and EVgo management, which today own 100% of the company, will be rolling all of its equity into the transaction. Once the transaction closes in the second quarter, LS Power and EVgo will hold a 74% stake in the newly combined company.

One more deal soon followed. Volta Industries agreed to merge this month with Tortoise Acquisition II, a tie-up that would give the charging company named after battery inventor Alessandro Volta a $1.4 billion valuation. The deal sent shares of the SPAC company, trading under the ticker SNPR, rocketing up 31.9% in trading earlier this week to $17.01. The stock is currently trading around $15 per share.

Continue reading “The EV Charging Problem”