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Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

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Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#31

Post by toomuchtodo »

epistasis wrote: post #27
dvasdekis wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Makes sense if it's being built as fast as possible given the number of workers available for installation.

Solar is actually super super hard to install right now, because tariffs are in an uncertain space, so nobody knows if, should they import, if they are are going to get a bill in the next 12 months for past sales that's 1x-2x the cost of the import (I forget the exact factor). This sort of protectionism isn't even buying us a bunch of local solar panel production, unfortunately. I'm not a free-market purist, and am i…

There’s about 100GW of solar generation in ERCOT’s interconnect queue at the moment. If there is uncertainty, utility scale developers aren’t signaling it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32071998

> As of 30 September [2021] developers had 100.3GW of solar capacity in the queue, 42.4GW of utility-scale battery storage, 22.5GW of wind, 13.5GW of natural gas and minor amounts of other technologies such as biomass.

For comparison, ERCOT has a maximum capacity of 15GW of coal generation, and 65GW of fossil gas generation (per electricitymap.org, which sources zone capacity data in the US from US EIA-860 reporting).

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#32

Post by vel0city »

grepfru_it wrote: post #3

I got hit with a rolling blackout on Thursday. Coincidentally, settlement prices skyrocketed to over $1.2k. I should connect this data to my power transfer/backup power system to preempt potential blackouts

I got hit by a rolling blackout. It was a blackout drunk rolling his truck into a utility pole.

Outages can have a lot of causes.

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#33

Post by rossdavidh »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #28
ajross wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, what gives? Where's the solar? Being installed as fast as the fabs can churn it out? Production capacity isn't infinitely elastic, factories take time to build. Solar is growing very rapidly, for reasons exactly like this, but it's not magic.

Also huge tariffs on Asian solar panels cuts demand.

Tariffs are a thing, but there is absolutely no shortage of demand right now, and hasn't been for a while.

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#36

Post by epistasis »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #31
epistasis wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solar is actually super super hard to install right now, because tariffs are in an uncertain space, so nobody knows if, should they import, if they are are going to get a bill in the next 12 months for past sales that's 1x-2x the cost of the import (I forget the exact factor). This sort of protectionism isn't even buying us a bunch of local solar panel production, unfortunately. I'm not a free-market purist, and am i…

There’s about 100GW of solar generation in ERCOT’s interconnect queue at the moment. If there is uncertainty, utility scale developers aren’t signaling it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32071998 > As of 30 September [2021] developers had 100.3GW of solar capacity in the queue, 42.4GW of utility-scale battery storage, 22.5GW of wind, 13.5GW of natural gas and minor amounts of other technologies such as biomass.…

Well if you are a solar developer it makes sense to get in line in the interconnection queue and hope that this stupid tariff stuff gets sorted out before it's time to actually buy all the panels. But I bet we'd have a lot more installed all over the US if it weren't for this.

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#37

Post by hk1337 »

dpierce9 wrote: post #22
KennyBlanken wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For one, the peak price of electricity was ten times the usual low point (~$36) I'm not sure what to make of the frequency drift; federally operators are supposed to balance it out for timekeeping, among other reasons. Taking a week to get on-frequency is...not good.

The Texas interconnect is not federally regulated. There is also no such thing as a federal operator. There are three interconnects in the US, east, west and Texas. The other interconnects are not run by one central authority (let alone a federal agency). Each one has a mixture of authorities. The eastern interconnect, for instance, is run by several interstate operators (MISO, PJM and ISONE), intrastate orgs (NYISO)…

ERCOT actually falls under Public Utility Commission. Natural Gas actually falls under the Railroad Commission which was one the issues during Uri, ERCOT had no authority to get natural gas flowing to power plants.

One of the issues, not the issue.

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#38

Post by toomuchtodo »

epistasis wrote: post #36
toomuchtodo wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s about 100GW of solar generation in ERCOT’s interconnect queue at the moment. If there is uncertainty, utility scale developers aren’t signaling it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32071998 > As of 30 September [2021] developers had 100.3GW of solar capacity in the queue, 42.4GW of utility-scale battery storage, 22.5GW of wind, 13.5GW of natural gas and minor amounts of other technologies such as biomass.…

Well if you are a solar developer it makes sense to get in line in the interconnection queue and hope that this stupid tariff stuff gets sorted out before it's time to actually buy all the panels. But I bet we'd have a lot more installed all over the US if it weren't for this.

> But I bet we'd have a lot more installed all over the US if it weren't for this.

Agreed. Solar PV module tariffs are suspended for 24 months FYI, so there is some near term policy clarity for utility scale developers. The ITC tax credit is also phasing down over the next 2 years, so the incentive is there to build build build.

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/biden-to-pause-solar-tariff...

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases...

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#40

Post by epistasis »

rossdavidh wrote: post #33
TaylorAlexander wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also huge tariffs on Asian solar panels cuts demand.

Tariffs are a thing, but there is absolutely no shortage of demand right now, and hasn't been for a while.

It's a bit more insidious than that, because uncertainty on the part of the importer means that they don't know how much to charge. A tariff action in the future can be assessed on past sales, and when you don't know how much can be assessed, you can't even really hedge or buy and then give rebates later. It's a really fucked up situation.
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