ERCOT lost almost half of generation capacity in storm, causing 20-GW load shed

摘要

Almost half of Electric Reliability Council of Texas generation capacity –52.3 GW in all — was forced out at the highest point during the winterstorm starting Feb. 14, which prompted rotating outages to cut load byas much as 20 GW, ERCOT CEO and President Bill Magness said Feb. 24.With demand climbing and many power plants unable to providepower, ERCOT ordered load shedding at 1:20 am CT on Feb. 15 toprevent the risk of a systemwide blackout. Power plants across itsoperating territory, however, continued to struggle through the hour,prompting additional load shedding and pushing grid frequency below59.4 Hz for four minutes and 23 seconds.