Comment by Aloha
2 years ago
As a Texan, I think whats going on in Texas, perhaps controversially is what happens when you have an over reliance on solar and wind as primary power sources. Even in Texas (where wind is basically ever-present) there are times when the wind does not blow.
I think wind and solar are great, and we should build more, but you also need a sizable amount of thermal generation (preferably nuclear) to provide for base load.
I dont think thermal can be replaced readily with gas turbine, battery, pumped storage, or other forms of rapid spin up equipment.
I have the somewhat controversial opinion that things like bitcoin are useful because they create static demand, and by doing so make the excess generation from wind and solar economical, thereby keeping the spot price in the grid high enough that thermal generation is still cost effective to build and operate - I dont think we should be paying them to shut down, they should just be disconnected wholesale from the grid during periods of ultra high demand as a condition of their interconnection to it.
This big dip here in TFA is probably because of some thermal plant going down unexpectedly.
The other close day this summer was also because of thermal plants supposedly not being able to come online due to extra maintenance.
The real issue in texas is not enough thermal generation capacity - I'd prefer it be nuclear, but right now its gas, and we dont have enough based on the states growth.