Great insights from Gabriel Collins “Of the more than 350 dispatchable power facilities with approximately 93 gigawatts of capacity (mostly in ERCOT the majority had some degree of reliance on water for cooling. “ “Of these, nearly 29 gigawatts’ worth are ‘once-through’ designs that require massive volumes of water from a lake or river and would potentially have to reduce generation or in a worst case, shut down, during a prolonged severe #drought. “
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Serious drought exposure for critical #electricity generation facilities in Texas. I thought growing natural #gas powerplant fleet had really slashed our drought risk. Diving into the data makes me think I assumed too much. I reviewed data and satellite imagery for more than 700 operational utility-scale power plants in Texas (50 MW or higher nameplate capacity) to assess their cooling system type. Of the more than 350 dispatchable power facilities with approximately 93 gigawatts of capacity (mostly in ERCOT), the majority had some degree of reliance on water for cooling. Of these, nearly 29 gigawatts’ worth are “once-through” designs that require massive volumes of water from a lake or river and would potentially have to reduce generation or in a worst case, shut down, during a prolonged severe #drought. Case examples from the 2011 drought and subsequent dry years in multiple parts of Texas suggest a severe multi-year drought (1950s type) could cause serious electricity supply problems and long duration disruptions. Hot weather and associated HVAC needs would only compound things. Edmund Knolle Matthan Beard Arjun Murti Jeremy B. Mazur Michael E. Webber Todd H. Votteler