Coal & Gas Plants Failed For Multiple Southeastern Utilities During Christmas Freeze

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TVA saw power generation from coal plants drop about 68% from more than 4 gigawatts early Dec. 23 to a low of about 1.5 gigawatts on Dec. 24, according to federal data. While gas generation increased Dec. 23, on Dec. 24 it fell roughly 25% from about 11.5 gigawatts to less than 9 gigawatts as the utility ordered outages for almost six hours. High winds damaged several of the protective structures at the Cumberland Fossil Plant, the biggest TVA coal plant, as well as multiple gas-fired combustion turbines used during peak power periods, a TVA representative said in an email.

Duke also saw its gas generation drop off just when it was needed most, according to federal data. Generation from its plants fell about 42% from more than 6.6 gigawatts to a low of about 3.8 gigawatts on Dec. 24, the day it instituted outages. The weather caused a reduction in Duke’s generation and extra electricity couldn’t be brought in from other power producers or from out of state because those utilities were also facing shortages, a Duke representative said in an email Thursday. And some of Duke’s generation was also offline due to planned or maintenance outages unrelated to the storm. 

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TVA said there were issues at gas plants but did not provide details about the specific plants or how they were impacted during the storm. Winter weather can impact the entire natural gas system, from frozen drilling equipment and pipelines to plant failures. “We have not seen much transparency out of TVA,” said Daniel Tait, COO of the nonprofit Energy Alabama. “We would argue and expect a lot more open, honest and transparent communication from TVA to tell the public exactly what’s going on and what happened so we can learn from it and do better in the future.”

TVA said it was generating about 23 GW on midday Friday, about 7 GW short of what was needed. With insufficient generation and not enough imports from neighboring grids, TVA ordered rolling blackouts from its local power companies like the Nashville Electric Service, which voluntarily cut power to customers in intermittent intervals.

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https://climatecrocks.com/2022/12/31/gas-coal-plants-failed-in-christmas-freeze/#more-81523