Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by JimNasby on Monday February 15, 2021 @02:59AM
(#26140262)
The grid has basically zero capability to change the voltage; frequency is all that matters. Frequency is so low that in the past hour any power line time base has fallen over 5.5 seconds behind. That’s a massive drop in frequency.
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Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by Animats on Monday February 15, 2021 @03:11AM
(#26140318)
No, voltage can be dropped a bit. "Brownouts" are a thing. But they're less effective than they used to be, because everything with a switching power supply will draw more current if the input voltage drops. That's now a big fraction of the load.
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by LeoPanthera on Monday February 15, 2021 @05:14AM
(#26141186)
Surely it’s not a big fraction of the load tonight. This whole problem is being caused by heaters.
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by puetzk on Monday February 15, 2021 @11:22AM
(#26144135)
But heaters on thermostats will just run more if they are putting out less wattage. So across your whole population of houses, you won't move that part of demand much (maybe a few were already running at 100% duty cycle).
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by Scoundreller on Monday February 15, 2021 @03:03AM
(#26140281)
It's a tool where I am. The grid operator does tests for 3% and 5% reductions:
https://www.ieso.ca/Corporate-IESO/Media/News-Releases/2019/...
Would be very effective with the space-heater (or oven?) driven demand right now in Texas. Not effective for A/C-driven demand (motors will draw more current).
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by DavidPeiffer on Monday February 15, 2021 @10:59AM
(#26143912)
>Frequency is so low that in the past hour any power line time base has fallen over 5.5 seconds behind. That’s a massive drop in frequency.
Out of curiosity, where did you find this?