Why wind turbines in New York keep working in bitter cold weather unlike the ones in Texas

[ffr]

“...There are a variety of cold weather and anti-icing technologies that are used on wind turbines in the coldest regions,” she said. “These technologies help prevent the buildup of ice on turbine blades, detect ice when it cannot be prevented, and remove ice safely when it is detected.”

Ice clinging to the blades of a wind turbine poses big problems. It adds weight and can throw the spinning blades out of balance, potentially damaging vital gear mechanisms. It also can change the aerodynamics of the blades, preventing the wind from making them spin.
-snip-

When ice is detected, heating elements inside the blades turn on to melt the ice.

For safety reasons, the turbines are shut down while the heating elements melt off the ice, Kurt said. That way, there’s no chance of ice flying off spinning blades, potentially damaging the turbines or, worse, striking someone on the ground, she said.

“We’d rather the ice drop below the turbine,” she said.

Once the ice is removed, the turbines are turned back on and the blades can safely spin in the wind again.

In Texas, wind turbines are not equipped with such de-icing packages because operators there never expected to need them, Kurt said.

“Turbines in Texas are built for the type of temperatures they usually get in Texas, where it’s 110 degrees, not 10 degrees,” she said. “It’s a cost thing.” Syracuse.com

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[patricia92243]

2. Follow the money. Always follow the money.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. Well, gosh.

Imagine that! Something could actually have been done ahead of time.

[bullimiami]

4. Which is fine. You can decide that wind turbines will not be part of your low temp plan.

But you need to have a plan.

Texas had no low temp plan. Just stuck it in the "unlikely - worth the risk" column.


The lying, again, is what I hate most about them.
If they would just tell the truth. "Money was saved by not planning for events like this" "This is how we do it".

[crickets]

5. "But you need to have a plan." - This. They had no plan. nt

[SunSeeker]

6. What? What witchcraft is this?

[durablend]

12. Clearly AOC trying to make Republicans look bad

[Evolve Dammit]

7. "It's a cost thingee. What utter stupidity after the last two major freeze events. So Sorry TX. n/t

[Botany]

8. 2 things:

Texas lost power from coal and gas fired power plants not wind from turbines

I just was looking @ these wind turbines along the PA/MD border last week ... plenty cold
and they were working just fine.



I think these were the ones.

[colorado_ufo]

9. The insurance companies can fix all this.

This is going to cost them a bundle. They need to SUE the parties responsible for failing to follow the government recommendations given to them over 10 years ago that would have prevented this tragedy.SUE the persons responsible for preparing the citizens for this coming winter storm, who did nothing - not even getting extra food stocked in the stores.

Yep, follow the money. A hefty lawsuit(s) would accomplish much more, much faster than any appeal to their humanity.

[paleotn]

10. Never expected to need them?

Have these people just moved to TX? It doesn't happen every Winter, but occasionally TX gets really zapped. It happened in 2011. Before the '79 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, they had to borrow a zamboni from a local minor league hockey team to help clear the field of ice and snow. And that was on New Years day.

The people are fucking idiots. Period. Full stop.

[trof]

11. Two ways to deal with the icing: Boots or heat.

It's what they use on the leading edge of aircraft wings.
Either inflatable rubber boots that break it up and off, or heat in the blades that keep ice from forming.

I don't think boots would be practicable on spinning blades, so heat would be the answer.

Too bad Texas didn't plan ahead.

[dhol82]

13. There are wind turbines in Antarctica.

I rest my case.

[bello]

14. You're Wrong, All Bloody Wrong

The wind turbines in New York kept working because they are freakin’ socialists. The wind turbines in Texas failed because they are dog damn capitalists.

Yeah, that comment was snark. Or at least it is until you think about it for a while

-b

[JHB]

15. It was the drop in natural gas production that was the main culprit...

The windmills were relatively minor compared to that.


https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/

Texas largely relies on natural gas for power. It wasn't ready for the extreme cold
***
Officials for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages most of Texas’ grid, said the primary cause of the outages Tuesday appeared to be the state’s natural gas providers. Many are not designed to withstand such low temperatures on equipment or during production.

By some estimates, nearly half of the state’s natural gas production has screeched to a halt due to the extremely low temperatures, while freezing components at natural gas-fired power plants have forced some operators to shut down.

“Texas is a gas state,” said Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas at Austin. While he said all of Texas’ energy sources share blame for the power crisis — at least one nuclear power plant has partially shut down, most notably — the natural gas industry is producing significantly less power than normal.

***
“Gathering lines freeze, and the wells get so cold that they can’t produce,” said Parker Fawcett, a natural gas analyst for S&P Global Platts. “And pumps use electricity, so they’re not even able to lift that gas and liquid, because there’s no power to produce.”

***

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-weather-texas-energy-idUSKBN2AH1V2

Natural gas output also slumped. At this time a week ago, Texas was producing about 7.9 billion cubic feet per day, but that fell to 1.9 billion on Wednesday, according to preliminary data from Refinitiv Eikon. Natural gas accounts for half of Texas’ power generation.