Just about everyone, with some complicity in the Texas power shortage, persist in blaming green power sources for failing at the worst possible time. The Wall Street Journal has doubled down with more math purporting to prove wind power failures caused all ills. See https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-spins-into-the-wind-11613605698.
The Journal Editorial Board reports that while
wind power represents a lot less than 42% of the total electricity generating
capacity in Texas, during the calamity, its share of currently online and used capacity
rose to 42% of the total. Then its share
declined severely to 8%. It appears that
the Board wants everyone to conclude that wind power generation failures caused
the power shortfall in light of the difference between 42% and 8%.
Shamelessly the Wall Street Journal and ever other oil
and gas boosters are blowing smoke.
How could a niche power player end up delivering 42% of
current production capacity in Texas?
Might other sources of power have failed miserably to operate at peak
demand? Put another way, how could wind
power become such a major source of electricity without the usual producers
suffering extraordinary outages? Wind
power market penetration rising from about 10% to 42% occurs only if other
generation technologies cannot maintain their market share by generating
electricity commensurate with current demand.
The Journal conveniently ignores the fact that oil
and gas generation of power failed so substantially that a minor alternative
source became essential. Additionally, all
the blame shifters cannot seem to wrap their brains around the concept of
making power generation of all sorts resilient in both hot and cold weather
extremes. Both legacy and new power
generators can operate in these environments had producers made the necessary
investment.
In Texas, investing for extremely rainy and cold days apparently
is not worth the cost, until it is.
Penny wise and pound foolish.
