Ice Storm Disaster at Texas & Electricity

Ice Storm Disaster at Texas and ElectricityThe Texas state in United States had natural disaster and there was heavy snow fall. The snow covered all roads, buildings, bridges and affected power supply as well.The temperatures dropped in the range of -20 deg Celsius. There was Snow Storm outside and no electricity at home. Winter heaters became non operational and people literally freezed at their own home.# 11 years old boy staying at Mobile Homes died due to Hypothermia.# 60 years old man died on his reclining chair.# People in house boat died in their sleep.# People who took shelter in their own garage and kept car engine ON died due to Carbon Monoxide.This shows as to how dependent are we on Electricity.It was not only electric heater but distribution of potable water, food chain, pumping natural gas, petrol stations etc. All were affected when power went off.Texas went without Electricity due to following reasons,# Over dependence on RE sources. There was no question of Solar working and Wind Turbines froze.# Natural Gas, coal and Nuclear Power Plants were temporarily closed down due to extreme weather.# Free market for Electricity with complete deregulation.# Sudden surge in Energy demand coupled with lower supply.# Generators which convert fuel to power are designed to ramp up and keep up with demand. Due to high demand they were overloaded and automatically went offline.# Lax regulations which allowed Energy companies to cut corners on "Winterizing."Energy Generation sources need to be Winterized to ensure their functioning at lower temperatures.# The view of Politicians was ' Winterization of equipment will cost too much money and ultimately consumer pays 'The disaster is one in the Century phenomenon & one need not spend now.# Energy companies wanted to keep their budgets low in order to be competitive. They were advised to Winterize their equipment about a decade back.What is “Winterization “?Winterization means preparing Power Generation, Transmission & Distribution companies for Winter Season.How is it done?# Power Equipment are fitted with Thermostatically controlled heating units that automatically start when temperature drops.# Fuel and other fluids in the system can freeze.Their freezing can be avoided by adopting following,* Fuel Stabilizers are added which prolong their freezing points.* Pipe wraps are used to keep liquid insulated from outside temperature.# Gasket seals crack during the cold season. Constant inspection and replacement is required.# Air and Fuel, Filters build up moisture which can freeze and block flow. Needs constant monitoring.# De-icer liquids can help in melting excess ice.Power Supply Companies were pushed into difficult decisions.When there was less power available and more demand then Grid operators had to prioritize.Priority was given to hospitals, schools (with warming centers), Churches etc. The power was sent on rotational basis to residential areas.There was no excess power left and power supply to gas exploration stations was stopped. They could not supply natural gas to power stations and whatever power was being produced that also stopped.Texas pushed itself in downward spiral as far as electricity generation is concerned.Texas State is rich in energy resources. They never felt need to integrate their grid with other states. In crisis like this they could not draw power from other states.The issue of blackout is not only limited to Generation. America has ageing grid system & not equipped for extreme weather evens. Power conductors will have ice rings around them. Insulators should be strong enough to withstand weight of accumulated ice. Hardware components should not have 'chirping'.America needs to build a more resilient grid that can recover from these disasters much more quickly.What happened in Texas is lesson for Power Utilities in other parts of the world which also face similar extreme weather conditions( DPK Udas)Author is Power Professional and has rich experience of 35 years in the field of electricity. He can be reached on dpk.udas@rediffmail.com