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Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

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Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#81

Post by pjc50 »

dcsan wrote: post #61
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.…

Since batteries are always the issue... How inefficient is mechanical storage? For example using electricity to just raise a heavy mass then as that lowers it can produce power. It seems that would be cheap to build at scale with the chance for almost unlimited storage. I have to assume there would be a more than 50% loss through the process, hope someone on hn can comment. Maybe it's not worth it when you can tap in…

> How inefficient is mechanical storage?

The density is the problem.

If you raise a 25,000kg mass by 100m, that's 24.5MJ, or roughly the energy contained in one kilogram of coal. Or 6.6kWh (standard meter units) of electricity.

(and that's on the input side, not accounting for losses)

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#83

Post by dmurray »

blamazon wrote: post #70
Chilko wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found this really interesting as well as here in New Zealand that relationship is inverted - we don't typically have residential air conditioning yet use a lot of electric heating so our peak demand is in the mornings and evenings, and most intense in the winter. This makes the business case for solar a lot trickier here as the periods of max generation (daytime during the summer) coincides with low demand and subs…

Doesn't New Zealand have tons of hydro? Is it possible summer solar could be used to pump up a mountain reservoir somewhere with that energy sold 6 months later at a premium?

Getting only one cycle per year out of your storage solution is hard to justify economically. Regular pumped hydro gets 200-365 cycles per year, and there's already a substantial difference between day and night electricity prices.

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#84

Post by philshem »

viraptor wrote: post #66
newaccount2021 wrote: post #6

HN is obsessed with the TX power grid....why?

It's an interesting case of one area trying to stay independent and deregulated, then failing in basic areas like low costs, and maintenance, leading to serious issues in recent winters. With certain media trying to turn the management failures into an anti-wind campaign thus not making things better. Honestly it's an interesting trainwreck to observe from far away. Shame that it affects real people locally. In case…

Direct link to the 2021 Texas power crisis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisis

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#85

Post by dx034 »

baq wrote: post #80
dx034 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a European, it always baffled me that power outages are such a common phenomenon in the US. I've heard stories about rolling blackouts due to heat/cold from people in all areas in the US. Whereas in Europe, I cannot remember a single instance rolling blackouts were used because of a gap in supply. Sure, Europeans pay more for electricity, but maybe that spare capacity and inter-connectivity is worth it.

don't worry, the grid in EU isn't issue-free by any standard and solar and electric cars will do it no good at all.

I know it's not issue free. But Europeans tend to pay a premium to avoid its shortcomings rather than have blackouts. And I prefer that over having cheaper electricity but with a threat of blackouts.

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#86

Post by hnarn »

TameAntelope wrote: post #2

Odd to present temperature in Celsius for a US state, but otherwise very cool! I wish it were easier to see the moments when demand and capacity were at their closest, as those are the "interesting" moments.

> Odd to present temperature in Celsius for a US state

It's only odd if you assume that any type of data presentation is always targeted to those living in the area the data is collected for, which of course is not always true. And as others have pointed out, Celsius is in fact used in the US by scientists, physicians etc. -- just not by laymen.

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#87

Post by hnarn »

vogt wrote: post #8
bloudermilk wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps energy laymen are not the intended audience

That doesn't make the GP question any less relevant or meaningful.

Nobody said the question was irrelevant or not interesting, but it does answer the question "what am I supposed to take away from this", if the answer is "you're not".

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#88

Post by jlawer »

Chilko wrote: post #45
dvasdekis wrote: post #14

The surprising inference from me, as an energy layman, is that solar output coincides with periods of peak demand. Obviously this is seasonally adjusted, but in an era when the Saudis have solar contracts being supplied for $10USD/MWh [0], the potential profits for a solar provider at periods of peak demand seem more than sufficient to encourage investment, especially with interest rates still at a historic low for b…

I found this really interesting as well as here in New Zealand that relationship is inverted - we don't typically have residential air conditioning yet use a lot of electric heating so our peak demand is in the mornings and evenings, and most intense in the winter. This makes the business case for solar a lot trickier here as the periods of max generation (daytime during the summer) coincides with low demand and subs…

It makes we wonder if something like the Australia-Asia power link would make sense. 2.2GW would be enough to cover current Gas, Coal and Diesel generation for NZ. With sufficient storage (Batteries, Pumped Hydro), you could recharge in the day, carry load into the evening peak, before switching to stored power.

Initial cost would be higher, but long term cost of Solar is ridiculously cheap.

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#89

Post by seoaeu »

dx034 wrote: post #78
a-user-you-like wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I was part of those. Sometimes living in CA feels third-world, and due to completely preventable maintenance items.

As a European, it always baffled me that power outages are such a common phenomenon in the US. I've heard stories about rolling blackouts due to heat/cold from people in all areas in the US. Whereas in Europe, I cannot remember a single instance rolling blackouts were used because of a gap in supply. Sure, Europeans pay more for electricity, but maybe that spare capacity and inter-connectivity is worth it.

In most of the US they aren’t common. Outside of that debacle in Texas, I can’t recall any rolling blackouts in the US from lack of supply. The rarity is quite likely why that event made international news and got so many people around the country talking about it

Re: Datadog dashboard for the Texas power grid

#90

Post by Mvandenbergh »

chasd00 wrote: post #55
maxerickson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solar capacity in Texas tripled since last summer . https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/21/heat-ener...

What does it take to setup a decent size solar farm? There’s a lot of cheap, flat, easy to develop land in far west Texas (Brewster county).

Grid connection, land use permissions (i.e. local planning). The latter is very easy in rural Texas so just the former really.
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