Due to freezing temperatures, the cost of electricity in Texas rose to $ 9 / kWh. Local green energy crisis

IN this article I wrote that the cost of electricity for grids transmitting it to consumers in Finland and Germany may be negative. All from a surplus of electricity generation. This happens in high winds when wind turbines generate more electricity than they consume. The impact of green energy, these capacities are more difficult to regulate.

The share of green energy in many countries is growing and prices are falling. But there is an anti-example of this week when wind turbines are shutting down due to weather conditions.

Freezing temperatures have been established over almost the entire territory of the United States since mid-February:

Of course, this leads to increased energy consumption. But due to the fact that, by coincidence, in the form of extreme weather conditions, wind turbines froze over and stopped in the state of Texas (almost 60 out of 150). A large power shortage has formed. Share of green energy in 2020 made up there

28% from all of the state's power generation.

Moreover, in the process of its development, wind power has bankrupted some of the coal power plants. And since the prices for electricity and there are exchange prices (set at the ratio of supply and demand), they have grown not several times, but by an order of magnitude, 35 times in two days.

Electricity cost from 15 $ per MW rose to $ 9000 / MW. For heating, an average private American house consumes -14 grams per day in frost. up to 100 kWh of electricity. It turns out 900 $ / day. It will cost approximately the same amount to charge the top model of Tesla's electric car.

By the way, 15 $ / MW is about 1 RUB / kW. With their prices and wages, electricity was almost free.

What happened, where did such frosts come from in the southern state of the United States with a subtropical climate? And why did the wind turbines stop, where is their shale oil? Cold air came with a cyclone from the Arctic, this already happened several years ago. But, as they write, during the construction of wind generators, the possibility of heating them was not laid down here.

Shale oil wells are also frozen. They, as it turned out, also need to be heated. The cost of gas in Oklahoma has risen 10,000 times!

Source of numbers https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2021/02/15/blekaut-v-tehase-zamerzayut-gazovye-skvazhiny-stoit-polovina-vetryakov

The energy industry in the South of the United States, in their comfortable climate, was not ready for such a sharp cold snap. Electricity began to be supplied irregularly; water pipes and sewerage systems froze in many houses. People inside the houses live in tents. Or sleeping in running cars. There are even victims of hypothermia.

A few photos of what is happening in Texas, where the snow still lies:

As you can see, in the United States there is no unified energy system, when, with an increase in electricity consumption in one region, it can be transferred from others. Or it is done ineffectively. The second problem is pricing. Ordinary people suffer from such speculative prices. Free market, as the popularizers of democracy love it. But, as you can see, the desire to profit from common problems among some bourgeois knows no bounds.

I wonder why in such crisis situations their government does not intervene and regulate prices? After all, this is an emergency. We would have long ago dealt with such situations by the FAS, the Prosecutor's Office or even the Investigative Committee.

Many people say that tariffs are high in Russia. Yes, 4-5 rubles / kW with our salaries and winters is a lot for most citizens. Moreover, to heat the house with electricity. But these are stable tariffs, which have no right to change without the approval of the government and the Federal Antimonopoly Service. Even in severe frosts, we will pay for electricity in the same way as in summer. Tariffs are growing every year - this is also there. Within inflation. This is bad and annoying. But comparing with the situation in Texas, and concluding: we do not want it like in the USA?

***

Subscribe to the channel, add it to your browser bookmarks (Ctrl + D).