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Ice storms hit nearly half of the wind power plants in the US state of Texas. Unusually icy weather for the area is blocking wind turbines, while driving demand for electricity to record levels, Reuters reported, citing the grid operator.
Of the wind turbines with a total capacity of more than 25,000 megawatts in the state yesterday morning, the facilities producing around 12,000 megawatts of electricity were out of service, BNR reported. Wind is the second most important source of electricity in Texas after natural gas. Wind turbines provided 23 percent of the state’s electricity last year and natural gas 45 percent.
In response to a request from Governor Greg Abbott, President Joe Biden authorized a state of emergency in all 254 counties in the state, allowing various services to coordinate their efforts to deal with severe weather.
Texas was hit after a freezing cold, combined with snow, sleet and freezing rain, swept across vast parts of the United States over the weekend, from the Pacific Northwest across the Great Plains to the Atlantic coast. The Arctic air masses dropped considerably further south than usual, reaching areas not used to these colds. Winter storm warnings have been issued for much of the Gulf Coast, Oklahoma, and Missouri.
USA
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