So according to its backers, one of the great big benefits of gas is that it’s reliable. But it froze. Literally. Pipelines, valves, all the complicated machinery and instrumentation built to keep cool in Texas summers were suddenly iced out, while gas pressure fell in the pipes. Bloomberg reported frozen turbines were the “least significant factor,” accounting for just 13% of the blackouts as of Monday evening, so those who operate in good faith would know that it’s unfair to blame wind turbines after that point when so much more gas, coal, and nuclear power unexpectedly went offline. Those “thermal sources” account for more than two-thirds of the state’s power generation and accounted for 27 of the 34 gigawatts that went down, while wind actually exceeded the forecast.
So according to its backers, one of the great big benefits of gas is that it’s reliable. But it froze. Literally. Pipelines, valves, all the complicated machinery and instrumentation built to keep cool in Texas summers were suddenly iced out, while gas pressure fell in the pipes. Bloomberg reported frozen turbines were the “least significant factor,” accounting for just 13% of the blackouts as of Monday evening, so those who operate in good faith would know that it’s unfair to blame wind turbines after that point when so much more gas, coal, and nuclear power unexpectedly went offline. Those “thermal sources” account for more than two-thirds of the state’s power generation and accounted for 27 of the 34 gigawatts that went down, while wind actually exceeded the forecast.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/2/17/2016563/-Texas-Blackout-It-Was-Unreliable-Gas-Not-Predictable-Wind-That-Failed-Terribly?utm_campaign=recent