Texas: Blacked Out Again // Enterprise: A Big Year for the Permian Basin // Pakistan Launches China-Design Nuclear Reactor

Texas: Blacked Out Again

Icy weather has put the squeeze on Texas's grid, leaving nearly 400k residents without power. Is this a Uri flashback?

Luckily, no. True, wind and solar crapped out, as Robert Bryce points out here:

But the real culprit was the transmission system. "[V]irtually all of the outages were due to breakdowns in the transmission and distribution system caused by ice on power lines or on nearby trees that fell and knocked down power lines, unlike the deadly mid-February 2021 winter storm that left about 4 million customers without electricity, some for days," reports S&P Global.

Transmission lines will always be vulnerable to incidents like this, unless you bury them. But that costs a lot of money to install and yet more money to repair. The advantage of above-ground transmission is that if something goes wrong, it's relatively easy to access. Underground wires need to be unearthed.

The weather seems to be clearing in Texas, with the generation portion of the grid surviving largely because of the state's natural gas fleet. "The state's natural gas supply continues to hold steady to help provide heating to homes and fuel for electricity generation during the ongoing winter storm," the Texas Railroad Commission said yesterday. Coal and nuclear also performed well.

Does that mean everything is peachy keen in Texas? No. Texas Competitive Power Advocates tweeted screengrabs of ERCOT's fuel mix and commented, "Examples of when grid works reliably but @ERCOT_ISO market doesn’t. 95% of our power is coming from dispatchable & they’re being paid next to nothing for it."

Here's a snapshot of the Lone Star state's fuel mix at time of writing:

Enterprise: A Big Year for the Permian Basin

Enterprise Products Partners, an American pipeline operator, said that it's bullish on the Permian Basin's output especially as European demand continues to rise.

"The comments come as top oil producers have warned of easing crude oil production from the Permian basin, spread across Texas and New Mexico, and as Enterprise's oil pipeline volumes fell last quarter," reports Reuters. "Rising costs, dwindling reserves and pressures to hold down spending have slowed Permian output gains."

But Enterprise reported a higher-than-expected profit as its pipelines transported more natural gas due to the rise in export demand caused by the Ukraine crisis. The company's natural gas transportation volumes leaped by 20.5% to a record 17.6 trillion British thermal units per day, fattening the Enterprise's operating margin.

Enterprise aims to earn above $9.3 billion for the full year. The company has also set its sights on building a crude oil export terminal, as pipelines to Corpus Christi are almost full.

Pakistan Launches China-Design Nuclear Reactor

Pakistan cheered as it inaugurated a $2.7 billion nuclear reactor, which the country expects will ease its energy woes in the long run.

"The 1,100 megawatts capacity power plant will generate some of the nation’s cheapest electricity, according to data from regulator National Electric Power Regulatory Authority," reports Bloomberg. "The facility was connected to the grid last March."

The reactor will be the second of two Chinese Hualong One reactor types at the Karachi power plant. China also financed the plant.

But this nuclear reactor won't do much to ease Pakistan's pain in the near term. Since the energy crisis, Pakistan's grid has been a shambles. Once the country got priced out of the LNG market by the Europeans, its heavily gas dependent grid started to experience shortages. Pakistan is currently in discussions with the IMG to raise its energy tariffs in exchange for bailout money.

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Conversation Starters

1. Xcel is applying for a life extension for a Minnesota nuclear power plant. "Xcel Energy subsidiary Northern States Power Company has submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a subsequent license renewal application for the utility’s Monticello reactor," reports the American Nuclear Society. "Should the NRC approve the application for docketing, Monticello will join nine other units currently under SLR review: North Anna-1 and -2; Oconee-1, -2, and -3; Point Beach-1 and -2; and St. Lucie-1 and -2.The NRC approved Monticello’s initial license renewal in November 2006, allowing the reactor to operate for 20 years beyond its original license-expiration date of September 2010. A second extension would permit the facility to generate electricity into September 2050."

2. Manchin wants to take another stab at permitting reform. "Capitol Hill’s permitting reform effort got new life Wednesday as two top Senate and House lawmakers held an initial summit on reviving the overhaul bid. This time, the House could take the lead," reports E&E News. "Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) are discussing the path forward for the stalled permitting reform effort."

3. A new nuclear power plant connected to the grid in Europe. "Slovenské elektrárne says that after successful start-up tests, and the launch of steam turbines over the weekend, the new unit 3 at the Mochovce nuclear power plant was connected to the grid for the first time at 20% of its nominal power at 10.57pm on 31 January," reports World Nuclear News. Branislav Strýček, Chairman and CEO of Slovak Power Plants, said, "Today represents a fundamental milestone for Slovenské elektrárne, the community of nuclear energy workers and the entire country. As of today, the third unit converts the thermal energy released in the reactor into electricity. This will help us fulfill the agreement with the government, in which Slovenské elektrárne undertook to supply cheap electricity for households at a price of EUR61.2077 euros (USD66.7) per megawatt hour, which represents an unprecedentedly low price of electricity for households within the EU."

Crom's Blessing