Reuters: Loss of wind causes Texas power grid emergency

Loss of wind causes Texas power grid emergency


Learn to Trade with a FREE Guide.HOUSTON (Reuters) - A drop in wind
generation late on Tuesday, coupled with colder weather, triggered an
electric emergency that caused the Texas grid operator to cut service
to some large customers, the grid agency said on Wednesday.

Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said a decline in wind
energy production in west Texas occurred at the same time evening
electric demand was building as colder temperatures moved into the
state.

The grid operator went directly to the second stage of an emergency
plan at 6:41 PM CST (0041 GMT), ERCOT said in a statement.

System operators curtailed power to interruptible customers to shave
1,100 megawatts of demand within 10 minutes, ERCOT said. Interruptible
customers are generally large industrial customers who are paid to
reduce power use when emergencies occur.

No other customers lost power during the emergency, ERCOT said.
Interruptible customers were restored in about 90 minutes and the
emergency was over in three hours.

ERCOT said the grid's frequency dropped suddenly when wind production
fell from more than 1,700 megawatts, before the event, to 300 MW when
the emergency was declared.

In addition, ERCOT said multiple power suppliers fell below the amount
of power they were scheduled to produce on Tuesday. That, coupled with
the loss of wind generated in West Texas, created problems moving
power to the west from North Texas.

ERCOT declares a stage 1 emergency when power reserves fall below
2,300 MW. A stage 2 emergency is called when reserves fall below 1,750
MW.

At the time of the emergency, ERCOT demand increased from 31,200 MW to
a peak of 35,612 MW, about half the total generating capacity in the
region, according to the agency's Web site.
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