In February 2021, an unusual weather event, an extreme winter weather front, brought the energy supply in the US state of Texas under tremendous strain as never before.
Not only did it set off alarm bells across the
energy sector, but also raised the concern about the logic of turning our back
on fossil fuels entirely without a credible alternative at our disposal.
According to the EIA, the US Energy Information Administration, in Texas, 61% of households use electricity as the
main power source and 52% of electricity in the state is generated by
gas-powered power plants; 31% of households use natural gas for heating
purposes.
On February 15, electricity generated by natural gas,
wind and nuclear power went down substantially, causing a serious energy
crisis.
The fate of wind turbines attracted the global
attention during the crisis, because what happened to the blades was not
something anticipated in a severe winter storm; that means, there are still
some unknowns when it comes to renewable energy generation which cannot be trivialized.
In Texas, as of February, 21% electricity was from
the wind turbines and it has been growing for the past decade.
