Wind Power Served All Through Harvey

Harvey Pushed This Texas Wind Farm All the Way to the Max

Brian Eckhouse, August 31, 2017 (Boomberg News)

“…Pattern Energy Group Inc.’s Gulf Wind farm in Texas remained in operation even as Hurricane Harvey devastated the state with a deluge of rain and winds that reached 130 miles an hour. The 283-megawatt power plant…[is about 85 miles from] where the storm crashed into the coast…Fortunately, it’s to the south. Harvey made landfall [to the] northeast...The storm is responsible for at least 30 deaths and estimates for the economic impact have climbed to $90 billion…Too much wind -- usually above 55 miles per hour -- means turbines must be shut down. Gulf Wind experienced gusts of about 50 miles an hour, just below the threshold, and had sustained maximum production for much of the first 36 hours of the storm…Maximum production typically happens when wind speeds reach between 26 and 30 miles an hour…Other wind farms that were forced to shut down are now back online…Wind often supplies about 20 percent or more of the power in Texas during the windiest parts of the day, according to grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas. That slipped to about 13 percent on Aug. 26, when Harvey hit…[but most projects were back at virtually full power within days]…” click here for more

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